


The Enemy

by Enrapture



Series: The Enemy [1]
Category: Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: 25th Hunger Games, Alliances, Blood and Gore, Character Death, Fanmade Arena, Gen, Hunger Games universe, Other, POV Original Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-21
Updated: 2013-08-27
Packaged: 2017-12-24 06:30:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 15
Words: 38,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/936520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Enrapture/pseuds/Enrapture
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a post-apocalyptic world, North America was formed under the name of Panem.<br/>After the sea level rose the people of the new formed country moved inward, towards the higher ground of the country. The world was split into thirteen districts and the capitol. That was Twenty six years ago. There is no district thirteen and every year since the rebellion children between the ages twelve and eighteen were forced into sadistic battle royal games; The Hunger Games. I am one of the tributes which has been called to the arena to fight my peers to the death. There is no hope, no way out. The only thing I can do now is Kill, or be killed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Home.

**Author's Note:**

> So this is only the pilot chapter hence why it's short. I'll try to make them longer the more I add through them and the Arena will probably be the longest chapters cus all the alliances and death n'stuff yeah.  
> Okay here we go.

**"** The victor, of the Twenty Fifth Hunger games! **"**

 

~~ ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– ~~

 

My name is Wade Galloway, and I am a tribute. The world was crushing down on my shoulders the moment I realized it- That the flamboyant woman on the stage was calling my name. The crowd around me moved away from me slowly, as if I was plagued by some unspeakable illness that would kill any who touched me. I was frozen, my hands at my side and my shoulders tense. The woman on the stage moved her wrist, her hand beckoning me to come to the stage and join my fellow tribute. But I didn't want to. I did not want to move from the safety of my position into the certainty of my death. Though the longer I lingered, the less patient the peace keepers were. Suddenly hands wrapped around my shoulders and I was being dragged to the stage; to my death.

"No, no please!" I whined, kicked and screamed as they dragged me to the stage. At only thirteen years old I was a tribute, a pawn for the capital and a target for the new found enemies I would meet in the arena. And it terrified me. They stood me up on the woman's right, forcing me straight and looking forward. Though no matter how they tried nobody could stop me from shaking, and everyone could see the fear in my eyes. Looking down at my district, I grimaced in pain. My younger sister wasn't here, not yet. And the rest were all responsible for my demise. I wondered how many voted my name? Had my father thrown me to the dogs as well as the rest of the district? I could not tell from looking down at the groups of boys and girls all in dirty formal dressings and cleaned as well as could be expected from the Twelfth district of Panem. I could only see the fear in their eyes.

It occurred to me that the brightly dressed woman had been speaking, but I had muted that out. I was no longer interested in hearing her voice. Instead, my eyes followed to the girl next to her, the other tribute for this district; my partner. Vibia Colesmith. Her fair hair falling over her shoulders and her dark eyes focused forward looking into nothing. I wondered what could possibly be going through her mind.

"Our tributes for District Twelve!" The proper voice flooded over my thoughts, and I knew what came next. Without restraint I turned towards Vibia, who seemed dazed even when she turned towards me. Reaching out my hand, I looked at her as if searching for something. Some sort of emotion to indicate she was still human. Her dark eyes fluttered upwards towards me, though only for a second before landing to my hand. Fear, fear was the only thing I saw from her as she extended her hand to mine and shook it with a hesitant dainty grip. I tried to reinforce assurance by squeezing her hand, but it only seemed to frighten her and in response to my actions she pulled her hand away as if she had been burned. It did not even take a moment for the peace keepers to practically tear us away from the sight of the crowd, ushering us into small rooms. I stood at the window, staring out and waiting. Waiting for my Father and my sister but they never came. When the door opened, I turned my head and looked over my shoulder to see who had come to visit me. My heart had sped up in hopes that I would see my sister for one last time, but instead I was greeted by the face of my step mother. She had to be no older than twenty three, with dark wispy hair and sky blue eyes; a close resemblance, I thought, to my own mother. Though she wasn't the same, she could never replace that role. But she came to me all the same, crossing the room and embracing me, "I'm so sorry," She whispered, leaning her chin on my head.

"Where is my sister?" I ask, pulling myself away far enough to look up at her.

"I couldn't find her. She is probably in the crowd with your father." I grimace at the answer, frowning visibly and she pulls me back in so she may comfort me for the few minutes we have together. I wouldn't get to say goodbye to my sister, and the thought horrified me. My sweet, younger sister Katri would not even be allowed to say goodbye. Even worse, she would watch me be slaughtered in a sick, sadistic game made by the Capitol.

With an inhale, I push myself away from my step mother once more to speak, "Will I win?"

"Yes you will." She replies with no hesitance. She has no time left before she's dragged out of the room, similar to how I was pulled onto the stage; thrashing about and screaming. Though the screams are nothing compared to what I hear coming from her after they close the door. I whimper, and am in as much pain as she is if not more. All noises coming from her cease, and I can only hope she is no longer conscious to endure the cruel beatings. Even though I am staring at the door, I can't bring myself any closer to it. After what they have done to my step mother, I dare not step out of place in fear that they will use the same process to discipline me into order if I step out of line. In this room, I am not sure what lines exist anymore.

Slowly moving back to the window, I wait until they come to retrieve me. I look out of the glass and wonder if Vibia has any loved ones to say goodbye to. My hand stretches and curls into a fist multiple times as I rethink our handshake. Her eyes were hollow of meaning and her handshake was void of confidence and life. She seemed worse off than me, and I wondered if she had anyone left who loved her. Unlike myself, Vibia had walked the stairs to the stage in slow strides. It didn't look like she feared death, as though she might as already well be dead.

Nobody spoke or cried out, and none of the girls allowed themselves a look of relief when her name was called and not any of their own. Then I think about the Quarter Quell as my eyes search around the blue sky. They had chosen us. Our own people had practically turned against us on the whim of the Capitol and voted. But why had they casted Vibia to the games, and more importantly why had they thrown me along side her? I had a younger sister, a father and a step mother. I had an entire family waiting for me at home that loved me, yet the people put my name in the ballot and left me for dead.

Though my thoughts were broken when a peace keeper entered the room to fetch me, and I took one last glance at my home and the sky. My mother had told me before she died, that no matter where you went, you would always be under the same sky. I cling to the picture of the sky, knowing that it might be the last time I look up at it within the comfort of my home, my district.


	2. Flight

The train is light and fast and it doesn't feel like a train at all.

Vibia and I sit across the room from each other. She finds comfort from the couch and I prefer the kitchen table. Across from me at the table is the brightly dressed woman, named Trixie Doverheight. I discovered it when we all arrived here and she greeted us with the most enthusiasm I had seen from another living being in years. I knew little else about Trixie, but I can smell capitol sold perfume reeking from the collar of her dress and her white curled wig extension stands five feet tall. With her heels and that wig I am not sure how she manages to walk. She's an embodiement of the Capitol, and I am not sure whether to be repelled or attracted by it.

"So where is our mentor?" I dare to ask.

Vibia turns her head towards us finally. I think because she understands the importance of my question and that it will effect both of us in the games. My eyes moved towards our escort, and I can see frown lines appear under her heavily powder make up. Thats when it occurs to me, there is no mentor. I can't remember anyone from District twelve ever winning the games- but this? I had hoped we would have at least gotten an old timer who won the games when they first started or something! Trixie apparantly doesn't assume I've already figured it out. That or Vibia still has a look of expectation from her face, because Trixie tells us what I already know.

"Well," She begins, placing a smile back on, "it regrets me to inform you both but there are no mentors currently living for District twelve."

Silence hangs in the air after she speaks, and I turn to look towards my partner. Her eyes are no longer filled with curiosity but now are dampened by some sort of emotion I can't put a finger on. If she is thinking the same thing I am, then she's embracing our inevitable death. Trixie catches my attention when she picks up a fork and begins speaking once more to lighten the mood, "But that will change now, wont it? One of you will win the games and make an extrodinary mentor for the future tributes."

Maybe it's how she smiles when she says only one of us will live, or the sparkle in her eye when she looks at me specifically, but whatever it is it has sent Vibia into a fit. A sob escapes her, and in a minute she has risen from the couch and retreated to her car of the train. My eyes are the only thing that follow after her, because i'm not sure even if I did get up and go after her that she would even talk to me or let me in. Trixie makes a noise of disapproval as she begins to eat the food that has been set out in front of us by some unnamed waitress for the train; no doubt meant to cater to our every need just like everyone else on this transportation device.

"Do you think she's going to die?" I ask, turning my attention to my escort.

Her eyelashes flutter when she looks up to me, and I can make out the cherry decorated design of the fake eyelashes now that I focus on them. Moving the cloth to her mouth to swallow her food, she nods. The cloth is aqua, matching the table cloth which was no doubt planned by her as well. When she does finish, Trixie lays her tablecloth on her plate and looks at me with some sort of pity thats been hardened over the years. She must have been doing this for years, I thought. I couldn't imagine escorting tributes to their death one after another; but I know that the capitol could. They could imagine it and much, much more.

"I'm afraid so. I've seen her type before; void of life and hardly has anyone to fight for."

When she says that I think to my sister. My younger sister, my father and even my step-mother. Maybe that was why the people picked me, because I had something to fight for. Yet I don't want to fight, and I won't kill anyone. I'll die in the games before they force my hand in killing somebody. "She might surprise you," I find myself saying to Trixie. A look of surprise covers her face, but it soon fades into her narrowing her eyes and shaking her head in protest to my statement. No. No, she won't be. Then I wonder if she even thinks I will live, if she has any hope for me against my opponents.

"Do you think I'll win?" I ask.

"Yes." She replies.

It's as quick and swift as the time my step mother said it when I was waiting for my sister and my father. Though I am greatful for their confidence in me, I can't find it within me to build it up myself. A million of the capitol citizens could bet on me, any number of talk show host's could tell anyone else to do the same, and I still wouldn't stand a chance.

"Well then, I'm going to go to check on Vibia and you are going to finish your meal." Trixie announces and orders, standing from her place and heading off in the same direction Vibia went.

I look down at my meal and notice that I haven't touched it. It's some sort of fish and green shrubbery. Even in a simple order of ediquette of manners and elegance I can't find names for most of the items of food on my plate, so how can I expect to differentiate the value of berries in a game of murder and death? I will have to ask Trixie about it tomorrow, I tell myself. Since I have no mentor, maybe she can enlighten me on it. In a way, I pity her. A pawn of the Capitol just like we are, suffering all the same with each years pair of tributes that come and go before their death. She even is forced on to take the spot of a mentor, of an absent victor that doesn't exsist because our district can't produce any fast enough with the rate they are killing us.

I eat, slowly and as well mannered as I can handle. When in the Capitol, do as they do. I smile to myself for thinking of a quote that will die with me, but I can't help to enjoy the moment for now. The food, the surroundings, even I am clean, prim and proper to their standards. Maybe just once before I am sent off into the Arena, I could pretend that I belong here and live in the lapse of glory. If I'm going to die, I want to know I lived my life like it was worth living, even just for a while.

Trixie comes out when I finish, and I stand from the table to look at her. She shakes her head, but I'm not sure what she means. Does this mean Vibia wouldn't talk to her? Or does it mean that she isn't alive? I'll be answered in the morning, Trixie tells me. It's too late to talk, I should rest. She pushes me towards my own room, and I feel my gut plummet when she leaves me in the room and the door slams behind her when she exits. I sit on the bed and I know I won't be able to sleep on it. It's too comfortable, it's too light.

I take the pillows and move them to the floor, taking only the thin white sheet from the bed as a blanket. I have to make it like home, or else I won't sleep. As I slowly begin to drift off, I wonder how I'll ever sleep in the games. Will my insomnia be a weapon, or my downfall? I know that I don't really have insomnia, not to the extent one of the other tributes might have it; but I hope for my sake that it's their downfall rather than their weapon. With that thought in mind, I close my eyes and let darkness consume me.

And just once, I can convince myself I'm home. Home, in District twelve under the bright blue sky or whatever is left of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eh it happened. I felt the urge to write this chapter mucho mas rapido, as soon as I put up the story again. But I don't know whether you all should expect another one soon or wait it out a few days. We'll see. Also I lied this chapter probably isn't any longer than the first chapter so cheers.


	3. Capitol

I wake up in the same clothes I was wearing when I slept. It is early, I can tell from the dim light slipping in through the windows. Everything is passing at lightning speed so it's nearly impossible for me to pinpoint where we are or how close to our destination we might be. Even though I am sure the others are awake, I take my time before getting up off the floor myself. My eyes stare at the floor, lingering as I wonder what the Capitol will be like. It will be my final stop before the arena, and the thought alone scares me.

When I am standing I take no time to go out of my room and into the main car. Just like I thought, both of the girls are awake. Trixie and Vibia sit on opposites couch's that parallel each other, and by the looks of it they were talking. Vibia has her feet on the couch curled underneath her, holding the pillow close to her chest as she looks to me. Trixie is sitting back straight and hands on her knees. Their reactions towards me are entirly different. Vibia's eyes soften and Trixie shakes her head slowly, giving me a look of disapproval at my choice to stay in the same attire from yesterday no doubt.

Though speaking of outfits, both of them had changed drastically over night.

Vibia's hair is curled, eyelashes long and wears a small blue dress no doubt all of these new factors are thanks to Trixie. Our escort herself has changed into something more comfortable. Her light pink dress is to the top of her knees, her hair is green today, pushed upward towards the sky in two pigtails which are exaggerated and curled immensley. It's not five feet above her head like her wig from yesterday, but it's still fairly high and ridiculous in my opinion. I look down at myself and try to wonder what I must look like. My hair is dark, shaggy and brown that only reaches the nape of my neck; not enough do do anything extrodinary with. My outfit is a simple shirt with a small vest, and pants that match the color and pattern of it.

There isn't anything impressive about me, not in appearance or soul.

My shoulders shrug, and I move towards the other two, sitting on the couch that is inbetween each of their own. They look like they have spoken everything out and more. Maybe it's the light or just because it's too early, but when I look at Vibia now I can see a smile on her lips and a twinkle in her eye. I feel less judgemental about Trixie now, who could've pretended like we weren't there and not even given a thought to our names. She rose above my expectations in this way, I tell myself.

"We're almost to the Capital," Vibia tells me, "Trixie told me so."

It's the first time I've heard my district partner speak. Her voice is weak and brittle, though it's easy to tell she's trying to reinforce her shaky breathless voice. It's the effort that counts though, even if she's not quite to the point of speaking to public audiences yet. Though it makes me wonder, which one of us will be better sitting in a crowd of thousands? I'm not eye candy like Vibia, but something tells me that I will charm the audience more than she will.

"Yes, and when we arrive you will be shown to the Capitol citizens waiting and then we will prepare you both for the chariot rides." Trixie informs us.

"Chariot rides?" I inquire. I tried not to focus on the games when they came around, so while it surprised Trixie, it didn't baffle Vibia. She must have ignored the games enough as well.

"Every year before the Hunger games start and before you train, you participate in the tribute parade, in which your stylist reflects your district in your outfits and you are pulled along so that the people may judge you and you may recieve sponsors."

I stare at her blankly as I consume the knowledge that could save my life in the arena. Sponsors, it's a word I know all too well. In the games, if they like you they will buy you things that could save you; water, food, medicine and even weapons. I remember one year when I was a child looking up at the games and seeing a girl convulsing on the ground and another tribute standing over her. The tribute was violent and lethal and everyone was sure he would win, up until one of the other surviving tributes got a weapon as a gift from a sponsor that brought the death of the district two tribute. I can't think clearly on what exactly that weapon was that made the tribute that year a victor, but I know it was as lethal as its wielder turned out to be.

"What if they don't like us?" I look between myself and Vibia. We aren't the most impressive, and put beside a career tribute we would stand no chance of impressing the crowd; not looking like we are.

"Nonsense," Trixie says, tapping her knee and standing from her seat, "You will do fine because this year you have the best of the best! Your stylist is one I've known personally for years and this year he has the greatest outfit schemes ever. I can feel it."

Our escort smiles, moving around and heading off to the bar car no doubt to indulge her lies and swallow them back down with fine wine. I look towards Vibia, and unlike yesterday she seems convinced by the lies and almost enthralled. I wonder if she's gone through a revelation, accepting her death or maybe Trixie just managed to coax her into thinking she could win. In which case, I wonder what lies she told Vibia to make her think that way.

"Do you believe her?" I ask.

"We have no choice but to." Vibia says.

We stare at one another for a few more moments. She's right, where we put our trust at this point doesn't matter. It won't effect the end out come at all. So with a long sigh, I stand from the couch and walk to the nearest window. I can see the Capitol in the distance, and I know before long we will stop and Trixie will announce this to both of us. Vibia stands, I can see her reflection in the window as well as I can see the capitol. She walks behind me, peering over my shoulder and if I hadn't known she was coming she would have surprised me. She was small, quiet and thin so it would be easy to miss somebody like her.

"You look through windows a lot, don't you?" She says, because its more of a statement than a question.

I only can manage a shrug in response, not wanting to break the sweet serenity of silence. The sky seems brighter, clearer here than it is at home. But it's the same, I know that. I cling to my mothers words ever since she took her final breath, because she was wise. She would've told me how to win these games and she would've embraced me when I was proclaimed victor. But she isn't here, and I don't even have a mentor. There isn't much hope for me going home now.

We both turn when Trixie enters, and it's only then I realise just how close Vibia had been lingering behind me. I don't mind, personal space has never been a problem for me. It was a luxury I couldn't afford in my home at District twelve. Trixie notices too, but remains silent about it and smiles away with a glass of wine in her hand.

"We're almost there." She announces, just like I knew she would.

Vibia moves to Trixie, and they seem to have some unspoken agreement to start eating breakfast together. I don't join them. I can't eat, my stomach is churning in curiosity and fear of how close to the Capitol we are. I remain at the window, trying to focus on anything but the skyscrapers and the city which gets more clear the closer we get. The train barely even touches the ground, but all of a sudden I feel like its running on wheels and tipping. But it's not, it's not even slowing down. I'm just nervous, my hands are getting sweaty and i'm starting to shake just like I did when I was on the stage.

It's because I know that I'm just getting one step closer to my death.

The train stops, Trixie guides Vibia to me and then pushes us out to the crowd. They scream and they laugh, applauding or mocking us I can't tell. I am frozen, my mouth is dry and I do the same thing I did when our escort had announced my name and they had dragged me on stage. I look towards Vibia. But this time it's different, she has a smile that charms the crowd and her eyes that sparkle in the reflection of the sun. I must look like a mess, looking at her shaking and fearful. Confused at how she can be so elegant after being so hollow just a day before. Anyone could confuse this for an act of love, that I might have some sort of crush on her; when the truth is entirely different.

I'm scared out of my mind, and she intimidates me as much as the crowd does.


	4. Chariots and Coal

After a long, tedious day of being laid on a table and being pampered far more than I care to admit, I stand in an empty room alone.

They led me here and then left me. I wear only the medical like robes they had put on me and I feel naked. The room is small, only equipped with a couch, a mirror and some sort of metal coat hanger which can be pushed around. There isn't anything on it, just empty plastic bags that I checked through just in case. I stay on my feet, trying to be aware of my surroundings just in case this may be a fluke. What if a politician instructed them to bring me here so peacekeepers could beat me to death? I know the possibility for that isn't low, but since it is before the games I try to console myself. _They wouldn't kill you, not yet anyway._

The door opens and I circle on my heel to greet the visitor with a defensive glare. It's a woman, who looks similar to Trixie but her skin is an olive color and her eyes are squinted. I wonder if she chose that appearance on purpose or if it was a backfire in some cosmetic surgery. She's wearing a dress that goes down to her calfs, though extensions of blue silk fall farther to her ankle. Her heels are rather short compared to the ones I've seen on Trixie, but she looks fairly tall in the first place so I'm sure she does it in order not to seem like she stands above anyone else. To look more feminine in the eyes of the Capitol. After examination, I conclude she isn't intimidating or a real threat.

"Who are you?" I ask.

"You are a lively one," She begins before introducing herself, "My name is Laffie."

Laffie extends her hand to me, and for the first time I don't feel comfortable shaking hands with a stranger. Her nails are long, coated in stripes that would belong to some foreign animal. Her metallic golden painted bracelets clink as she pulls her hand back to her side. She can sense my uncomfortable nature towards her. Laffie, a stylist who did not give me her full name. Laffie, a citizen of the capitol stolen by extravagance and pampered with cosmetic poisons. "My name is Wade Galloway," I tell her.

"I know." She replies.

I stare at her, "Doesn't everyone by now?"

"Not yet."

I give a look of confusion as she seems to move across the room and pull down the empty plastic bags that should be holding elegant silks or ironed suits. It occurs to me what she means when she takes them and leaves the room. She is going to make _everyone_ remember my name when she's finished with me. I don't know what she think's she is going to do, but I don't have much hope going for myself. Especially not after seeing how charming Vibia was in front of a crowd, and how I paled in comparison. I try to tell myself that it doesn't matter if people like me, as long as I win. As long as I know how to fight in the arena it doesn't matter who likes me. But I know that's not the case. Sponsors are half the battle, and without charisma or strength I won't be able to survive even a quarter of the game.

Laffie enters the room again, hanging the bags up. Though they aren't empty like they were when she took them, now they are holding pristine outfits. I glance sideways at her, "What are those?" I manage to ask before she can leave.

"Your outfits." She replies before she is out the door again.

I can see them, but I know better than to touch them. Hell knows no fury like a stylist scorned. I move to the couch, and finally allow myself to sit. I watch Laffie go in and out of the room moving in quick strides and focused attentions towards the bags which hold my future attire or nothing at all. I'm still uncomfortable, shifting around in the loose, thin cloth that covers over my body like a dress. If this is how women feel while in dresses, I sympathize with them and pity them. At this point, I pity anything that moves in the Capitol.

Laffie comes in for the final time, hanging the clothes on the last hanger. She then stops, turning to me and putting her hands on her hips.

"Are you ready?" She asks me.

I nod in reply and stand. I stay at her disposal, as she lays out the outfit for me and leaves the room. I strip naked, discarding the medical like robes to the side as I force myself into the odd outfit laid out for me. When I've put it on, I look into the mirror. I can hear the name of my district being echoed in my mind just by looking at the outfit. It's black, with a sort of silver glint that coal has in the right light. It's like a uniform, one that would be worn by some one who has a status quo. It's doublet top with silver buttons and coal dust. It's not real coal dust, no it doesn't leave a smudge after I touch it and coal dust isn't that showy either. They must have thrown some glitter in there with it so that the audience would see it. It's uncomofortable and tight, and I look like im pretending to be something im clearly not. My hair isn't pushed back, they must have thought I have better appeal with my hair down and shaggy.

When Laffie comes in, she's holding something in her hands. I don't think I'm bothered by her presence anymore, and the fact she didn't knock doesn't even occur to me. I must have been taking my time, because she looks worried. Relief washes her face though as she steps in and smiles at me. I can see her through the mirror, since my back is to her. I turn to look at her and adjust my outfit for comfort reasons.

"You look great." She informs me.

I only stare back at her in response. I don't think I look that good. I don't even know what I'm supposed to be, and if it wasn't for the exaggerated colors and tones of my outfit, I wouldn't guess I'm from district twelve. My eyes go towards the item in her hand, "What's that?"

"It's a hat." She replies, holding it up for me to see.

I roll my eyes and give a snarky smile in reply. I knew it was a hat. My father had one just like it, said it was a family heirloom that we had since before even the days of Panem. When the water was lower and the people were kinder. I wonder if my father even knew what that meant, because I couldn't imagine a world that was anything but this, for better or for worse.

"Your father requested it be sent to you. Normally we don't let things like this slide in but sometimes I intervene on a tributes behalf," She tells me, and I'm grateful, "I told them your outfit needed it."

I assume they hadn't seen my outfit, because it doesn't match. But when she hands it to me and I look at it closer, I realise she's tinted the color. Once a dark brown, my fathers hat was now a coal black, though there isn't the sprinkles of glitter covering. That I am also grateful for. It's a cowboy hat, my father had told me so. Or that was the fashion they used to use for it back in the day when people wore these.

"Thank you." I say to her.

She nods, taking it from me to put it on my head and I let her. She has gained my trust through an action I could never hope to repay. When it's situated on my head, she pats my back gently and pushes me on and out the door. We walk with each other up until we find the Chariot I will be riding in with Vibia. Vibia, my tribute partner. When I see her she's more stunning than the last time. The Capitol has gotten their hands on her, but she only keeps improving each time I see her. Her hair is pulled up and they've found a way to make her hair create a tiara on top of her head by using simply braids. Her dress is like a ballgown, dark and copying my own with glitter and tints of coal. On the center of her chest is a diamond, almost as large as her heart, placed there and seemingly held by nothing.

We stand beside each other in the Chariot when the time comes, and up until the last minute Laffie is by our side with the rest of her team. When the doors open, us and the rest of the tributes begin to emerge in order of numbers.

We come out last.

The crowd is completely silent when we come out, and I feel myself start to panic. Do they not like us, and why wouldn't they? I turn to Vibia and I can see her looking at me with passionate eyes that are just as confused as I am. Then, she does something. Vibia moves her hand to the diamond at her chest, and pushes it. I'm beyond confused until I see both of us start to radiate, leaving trails of sparkles and embers in our dust, as if we were stars in the sky. It doesn't match our district, but the crowd loves it. They are screaming our name and throwing roses of all colors at our chariot as it passes them. I smile, as I'm looking at the crowd, glancing forward at the chariots before us.

The ones that have stopped are glaring at us, and the rest are looking up to the screens to see us. We come to a stop eventually, just like the rest of them though we are last. I stand proud and tall, or as tall as I can manage. For thirteen I am only four foot eleven, and Vibia two years older than me doesn't tower over me that much higher. When everything is still I see the president, standing there above us high and mighty with a white rose on his chest. He's fairly young, and I wonder how long he's been president or how old he is in the first place.

That's when he begins to speak.

"Tributes, we welcome you. We salute the courage and your sacrifice. And we wish you Happy Hunger Games. And may the odds be ever in your favor." His voice booms over the crowd, no doubt enhanced by the speakers. Despite his appearance he holds himself high and his voice makes me want to shrivel up in my chariot now and hide. I feel scared by the power his aura holds, and simply by the tone in which he addresses us with. The people around us, the capitol citizens, are either clapping or cheering. I can't move, but I can see Vibia smiling and clapping. I remain there, one of the only somber and frozen with intimidation as I stare up at the President. Nothing will ever scare me as much as his voice did in that moment.

 

 

 


	5. The Tributes and Tribulations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter. I had great debate on whether or not I should actually post this Chapter, but I thought it would be important for those who like Vibia to get a small insight to her past, though not much. So here you go for now.

When the night is over and we are allowed to change and then roam free in our penthouse, I remain in my bedroom for most of the night. I know I shouldn't skip dinner. In fact I should be packing on pounds and putting on muscle like a career would, but I can't bring myself to the table. Trixie, Vibia, even our stylist and the prep team are down the stairs eating the last scraps of dinner. I however, sit on the floor holding a pillow to my side. I can see the city from here, the lights and hear the soft, distant sounds of people and music. The night is as lively as the day here, and I wonder if any of the Capitol really sleeps when the sun goes down.

My gaze and thoughts are disrupted by a knock at the door.

"Come in." I say loud enough for them to hear me. I didn't want to shift from the comfortable position I was in.

It's Vibia who enters the door, wearing a long night gown that covers her arms to her wrists and her legs to her ankles. It must have been later than I thought, because the last time I saw her she was still dressed up in our Chariot outfits. I had discarded the outfit long ago, but the hat remained on my head untouched. Vibia steps with the lightest sounds as she approaches me, stopping at my side. She kneels and her body is facing me rather than the window, but I don't turn to greet her static eyes. I don't want to look at her, or anything for that matter, right now.

"Why are you hiding in your room?" She asks.

"Why are you so happy to be here?" I ask in a bitter voice. Maybe I've grown jealous of her, or maybe I just genuinely want to know. I'm not sure, but I know that I could never be at home here, not really.

Vibia laughs soft and light, moving to sit beside me and lean against the side of the bed. She isn't looking me anymore, she is staring out the window at the night sky. I wait for her to answer, but she never really does. I think it's because I didn't answer her question first, so I decide to humor her in order to understand her, "I don't like it here." I tell her, and it's the truth. The more I am here, the less chance I feel like I have in the arena. I arrived with thinking I could do anything, but now I'm falling short of even that.

"I don't either," She agrees, "but what other choice do I have? I don't have anyone left in District twelve."

That's when I fit the puzzle pieces together. They chose her because she was an orphan, and me because I could be a victor. Two titles they proclaimed for us and they could never be more wrong. I felt less angry at her, now that I understood more. She was just playing the part, doing what I had intentionally came to do. Enjoy what she had left before everything was taken away from her all over again. I frown at myself for being so spiteful of her, of how I had accepted her timid nature but the second she accepted it all and stood for herself I resented everything about her. It was odd, I thought, how we work.

"So your an orphan." I say, and she hums in response.

We sit like that, looking out the window and enjoying each other in the silence of the room. I can't imagine what it would be like doing this all over again with no hope at my back. No sister or family waiting for me at home. I wouldn't have made it this far, so I silently applaud her. I don't want to know how she does it though, I can't get that attached. One of us will die in the arena, or maybe both of us. But either way I can't falter in my step if I hear the canon signifying her death, not even once. The closer to the games we get, the less I seem to sympathize with my morals. But I know that even in that field, when it all came down to it, I wouldn't kill anyone.

"Do you think you could kill anyone?" I whisper to her.

"No," She replies, "I am going to wait it out. Sneak away and hide the best I can until it's all over."

Her plan is genius, but it's impossible. The game makers would find a way, I know they would, to kill her if she didn't finish it. Especially if her opponent was much more suitable for the crown than she.

"We start training tomorrow." I say.

"I know." She says, nodding.

Then we go back to the silence, enjoying nothing else but each others company. I blame the lack of sleep for my sudden change in behavior, but I know soon enough I'll be restored and ready in the morning. Training, just as I said, begins tomorrow. All of the tributes will gather, and we will train the skills we already have and learn new ones to adapt to our surroundings. Our surroundings. It occurs to me that the Arena could literally be anything, and each year they find a way to make it different each time. But it's always dangerous, and nothing is within the boundaries of trust.

"Goodnight, Wade." I find Vibia saying to me as she stands and walks out of my room.

I don't wish her a good night in response, I just don't find it fitting. I can't sleep and there is no hope in tomorrows wake, so why would I lie? I say it to myself though, Good night, as if I was saying it to my little sister in District twelve. Again I pull the thin sheet from the bed and the pillow too, laying them on the ground as I lay there. I hope sleep comes to me soon, I need it.


	6. Practice and Instruction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Longest chapter! I was going to make this one into pieces but then I was like nah why don't I just smush all the days of training in here and give them a long chapter? So here it is. Chapter six.

"In two weeks, twenty three of you will be dead, one of you will be alive. Who that is depends on how well you pay attention over the next four days. Particularly to what I'm about to say. First; no fighting with the other tributes, you'll have plenty of time for that at the arena. There are four compulsory exercises, the rest will be individual training. My advice is don't ignore the survival skills. Everybody wants to grab a sword, but most of you will die from natural causes, ten percent from infection, twenty percent from dehydration. Exposure can kill as easily as a knife."

The words sting, and I'm standing in training outfits just like the rest of us. There are twenty four of us, and on the speaker the woman is telling us that we can die from much more than a knife. I bite my lip, glancing to the ground as they begin to lead us in a line to do the exercises with each other. I fail almost every single one, whether it be a slip of my hand or a trip of my shoe that sends me tumbling to the ground. The ones I do succeed in brings me both admirers and enemies apart.

Then we are set loose on our own.

Career districts jump straight for the weapon training stations, and I watch as they do from my own station. I've put myself at another weapon training station, but this one has knives and more personal, up front weapons. One of the career districts that catches my eye is a girl. Her nearly white blonde hair is long and flows down her back, her eyes blue and cold; fierce and unforgiving. With the way she throws the harpoon, I can assume she is from District four. Though while watching her I feel my weight lift off the ground, and suddenly I'm being thrown on somebodies shoulders.

"Let's play helicopter!" The boy who has lifted me shouts, and I frown as he runs me around perched on his shoulders.

He's not playing around with me, he's threatening me. His voice is low and I can hear him hissing out his threats about how if I ever touch Eta, he will personally kill me in the arena without a second thought. I then know the name of the District four girl, Eta. Though when he sits me down back at my station I know nothing about him but his appearance. He is bigger than me, but only by a little. He doesn't have much muscle but apparently he could swing anything he wanted to over his shoulder; or maybe i'm just light. Blonde, blue eyes, fair just like Eta. I wonder if they come from the same district, but whatever the case I now understand that Eta has an admirer that I will be avoiding in the Arena.

I move to a more familiar training center, Axes. They are the second closest thing to a pick axe, though much heavier and more wide. There is a great difference between them, I notice.

I manage to hit targets easily when I swing the axe, but when I attempt throwing it I always fall short of the target. The other tributes notice, and I grab the axe from the ground after another failed attempt. My eyes catch on a tall girl among the tributes watching me. She has brown caramel hair which reaches her breasts, small despite her busty body. I don't know her name, but I want to. Her hazel eyes are still glued to me just like everyone else's. I decide to move my attention to the target once more after I lift the axe from the ground and return to the painted stripe that tells me how far away I need to be from the target. The stripe which separates expectation from reality, and everyone has to be pushed back behind expectation if they expect their throw to count. Lifting my arms, squaring my feet I take a deep breath and then throw the axe. It hits directly at the ankles of the target dummy, which isn't very impressive, but it's enough to get attention away from me.

When I retrieve my axe again, I hurriedly look to the girl with the dark hair and hazel eyes who had me enthralled moments ago. She stands with another girl now, whose hair is auburn and eyes are a dark green in color. They seem to be arguing, discussing or plotting something. More than likely building an alliance, I think.

Before I get the chance to explore any of the other training stations, we are allowed lunch.

When I sit down in the cafeteria I am alone. I look around me and see everyone deciding wisely where to sit. The careers pack up together, and I see Eta along with the boy who threatened me beside her as they seat themselves. I see Vibia sit with them as well, and I know she's building alliances. I feel betrayed, watching as she sits there and laughs with them about mindless things. In reality, she is only looking out for herself. I would be doing the same if I were her.

My sight of Vibia, Eta and the rest of the careers are broken when three girls and a boy sit down at the table around me. One boy at my left, one girl at my right. The other two girls opposite of me. I recognized the girls who were in front of me, the one who I silently admired and the other who she had been conversing with. Though I still held my breath, hoping that none of them wanted to ensure my inevitable death by making more threats.

"You want an alliance, blue eyes?" The harsh voice from the male tribute on my left asks me.

"I have a name." I bark back, though my ears are open towards an alliance.

"Sharp one." The girl with auburn hair speaks from across the table.

I move my eyes towards the beautiful girl, the one with hazel eyes that sits on the other side from me. She's eating her food with her fingers, even though there is silverware at her dispense. I'm not as repulsed as many others seem to be, and when she burps it does nothing but amuse me. She nods her head towards me when she notices my smile, finishing her food and having enough etiquette to eat without her mouth full, "So what is your name?" She asks me. Unlike the rest she doesn't seem as enthusiastic to have me on board, but not as repulsed by the idea as the boy next to me seems to be.

"Wade Galloway." I say.

"A name for the stars." The boy beside me grunts, obviously displeased by my name alone, or maybe it's the bite I hold in my bark that threw him in a disagreeable direction about me.

"We saw you at the axe station, Wade," The auburn hair girl began, leaving her food cold and untouched as she spoke, "We wanted you to be a part of our alliance against the career tributes who are no doubt forming one themselves." She says, then pauses.

I follow her gaze to Vibia, and then I look back to her when she turns her attention to me once more, "And your district partner."

"First I want to know your names." I demand.

Obviously I'm in the exact position to push people around, because they all submit their names. The boy who is discouraged by me on my right is Gaius, giving no last name. He comes from District three, and it surprises me. I would naturally assume that as a low number district, he would be trying to fit in with the Career tributes. The girl on my right announces herself as Persei, giving no other name than that. She comes from District five. The Auburn haired girl who states to be the leader and innovator of this alliance idea calls herself Karis Norrick, District seven. The one my real attention is focused on is named Winnow, Winnow Edenrhys from District nine.

Though after hearing this little bit of information, I understand why I impressed Karis. I was practicing with her districts main weapon, an axe. It was the only thing I really knew anything about, but I lead them on to think otherwise.

"How do you intend on staying alive." I ask, starting to pick at my food.

Winnow speaks first, though this time with food in her mouth, "Kill the careers." It's a short, simple plan that could backfire easily. Her voice sounds rough when she says it, being outright with the response rather than covering it up or adding more sparkle to the plan like perhaps Karis wanted to.

"What else?" I inquire.

They look at each other confused, as if there was nothing more to it. I wonder just how long this was planned out. Gaius laughs, shaking his head as he speaks to me, "Then we split up and hope we don't have it come down to killing each other."

I frown, this alliance is only temporary. Though why should I be surprised, the entire games demands only one winner. The alliance would never last in a game that forced such circumstances. And this game was exactly that. 

"Worse comes to worse we meet up with each other at the end and fight to the death," Persei squeaks from my right. I scoff, knowing that's the only way it will end.

"Why should I be in an alliance that's only goal is to kill the careers and then turn on each other?" I ask, my curiosity knowing no bounds with my sudden bitter temper.

"Because you'll have a better chance at living." Winnow tells me.

I look at her, almost surprised at how serious she says it. Though when I look at her, she seems to be looking off into some uncharted world. I understood then she wasn't talking to me. I also knew in that moment that she wasn't an orphan, not like Vibia. No, she was like me. She had family, or some sort of relations waiting for her to come back home.

"That is, if you survive the bloodbath." Winnow suddenly finishes the sentence that I didn't even know needed to be ended.

Her hazel eyes are looking at me now, and I can feel a pessimistic aura surrounding her while I repeat the words in my head. Survive the bloodbath. I try to think, what is the bloodbath? What does the word fit with in the game?

"What is the blood bath?" I suddenly ask.

Gaius laughs loudly, and Winnow glares at him silently at his obnoxious behavior to my question. "Be nice," Karis speaks, "district twelve doesn't have a mentor."

I wonder how common knowledge it is. That I am on my own, and even Vibia was more resourceful than I was. She had abandoned me, and now I had no one but these people with whom I was to make alliance. I couldn't trust them, and if I could put my trust into any of them, it would be Winnow. Despite her horrible mannerisms, I could tell she would protect me in the arena. She was the only one I will allow myself to trust, I whisper to myself.

"The Bloodbath is at the start," Karis begins, "everyone runs to get something from the Cornucopia and if the career's get there first, they'll cut us all down. Hence why we need to kill them."

The plan makes much more sense, but it still is one set up designed to fall. I silently nod though, in agreement. I need them as much as they need another tribute on their hands.

"Okay. I'm in."

* * *

The next two days of training are difficult to say the least, but I manage to learn to think on my feet and catch up with the swing of things. The only training station I fail to visit before the end of our days is the Edible insects and plants. Though Karis assures me I don't need to learn that, as she already knows. But I grimace at the point, knowing that our alliance won't last that long. For the rest of my time, I follow Winnow around and she teaches me about the stations she already knows how to use, which aren't many. Neither of us come from a district that raises their children to know how to fight in these games, so we have an equal understand why neither of us know most of these stations. Her stamina is low, and she can't run very fast if she can even run far; but Winnow has already rolled over three opponents in wrestling and hand to hand combat.

The others in our alliance are good too, in their own ways. Gaius is strong, using snares and wires to focus electrical current. He prefers traps, and though I respect him I also fear him. Persei can't do much, but she's dedicated. Her eyes focus on a certain other male tribute, and she actively seeks to impress him as far as I can tell. She always makes sure he is looking at her when she practices something she knows is her best.

Karis is the best of us though, knowing how to use an axe better than I do. She knows all the edible things in nature, climbing trees, forging, and making shelter or a fire; as long as it involves wood.

The other tributes are equally as deadly though. Eta is a straight shot with a harpoon or trident, and I've discovered the name of her admirer. Echo, he shares Eta's district, volunteered in the place of the other poor boy who would've been called. He is infatuated with her, and knows a few things himself. He can knot anything, make traps and weave. Amelia, another girl in the career pack is from District two. She can hold and use any weapon in this training center, but she's best with knives and swords.

I don't know the rest of their names, simply because my own alliance has little knowledge of them. Vibia is part of the career pack too now, in a way. Though she isn't as much of a threat. She's sloppy with her knife skills, even though Amelia is trying to teach her how to throw them. Either Amelia is a poor teacher or Vibia isn't a fast learner, I can't be sure. It could just be a rouse, I think. Vibia could be gaining their trust to take them all out, or appearing weak so she can wait out the games just like she said she wanted to. I can't tell at this point, because when I look at Vibia I don't trust her. She's changed too much and I don't understand her anymore.

The last day of training is here, and I follow Winnow. She's grown close to me, and I feel like we're family. Though I don't want to be seen as family to her, I want to be something deeper. But It occurs to me that I don't have her attention the same way she has mine. I come to the revelation while examining a knife, slashing at the empty air and trying to learn a new technique which would allow me to intimidate a person but not actually kill them. My attention is caught by Winnow, who is stretching. She is doing it on purpose, I know because nobody exaggerates their body that much if they aren't asking for attention. She's got her backside towards me and there is only one other male near my training station. He's from district one, he's big and he's brunet. He's all brawn, muscles and bite, violent and gruesome. I could only hope she was making a show for me, but she's four years older than me and only a year younger than District one. I am smart, I give myself credit, but sometimes I wish I wasn't so smart. Then I think, it's not hard to connect the dots, so even if I wasn't that smart I would still know.

I wonder to myself if I would be willing to kill the boy from District one, just out of spite and jealousy. But my heart strings curl up and twist around it and hang my heart, and I know I couldn't do it. Not with how Winnow flirtatiously smiles towards him and makes a show in front of him. I wouldn't bring myself to it, because then there wouldn't be anything to go back for.

 

 


	7. Show us your best, and then your better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super short chapter not even sorry. I'm actually heading to bed and going to sleep now, which is why this is such a short closing. Also because with the training scores you don't really have much to work with especially since I didn't fill out all of the twenty three tributes in personal details. SO enjoy this because the next part is the interview and then we make it to the Arena, where everything goes down.

The end of the last day has swept up on me. As the twelfth district tributes, Vibia and I sit alone in a room waiting for them to announce our names. I haven't spent alone time with her since the the night before the training began, and now I find it only fitting that we share the tin room alone in anticipation on the last night of the training. Though we don't speak with one another. Neither of us want to speak with the other, and we have better things to worry about. I can feel my palms shaking and my breath coming out in short audible puffs. We have to impress the game makers, and I don't know why it is important but I make it important.

Her hand sits on my suddenly, gripping mine tightly. I look at her, confused as she only gives me a reassuring nod.

So I hold her hand and we intertwine our fingers. We stay there sitting side by side, our hips and shoulders connected as we wait for them to call one of us and tear us apart. Her name comes first, I can hear it echo across the walls. She stands, but I don't release her hand and she looks back at me. Vibia stares at me, though not with confusion. She looks at me with understanding pity. I open my mouth to say something but nothing comes and she just nods. She already knows whatever I was going to say, and knowing that myself I find myself letting go of her hand and watching her vanish into the training area.

I run my hands through my hair, feeling the sweat from my forehead and hands smear across my hair, wetting it effectively. I let out a pathetic whimper, my leg shaking as I wait for them to say my name. Eventually, after so long of waiting, they do. I stand, leaving the waiting area and entering. They all stand above me, in a balcony separated by nothing, not even glass.

I calm my hands enough to grab a knife from it's place on the rack. They are looking at me, and I can tell they are amused by my shaking.

With a sigh to calm myself, I position myself properly. I square my shoulders, plant my feet into the ground, and look at my target. I grip the blade of the knife, and pull back before throwing it. It hit's the target straight and steady, better than I had planned. There is silence, but then they go on talking. Standing there, I'm not sure what to do. Should I throw more, or perhaps leave? I wasn't dismissed, so I stand there waiting. The man who controls the games waves me off, but I can see he cares little about me. Make an impression, make them notice you. I scream to myself, and I know exactly how I could. But I don't, I move away and leave the area before I did something atrocious all in the name of attention.

* * *

The night after, I could still feel myself shaking. Though now it was worse, because I was being judged for my performance. I sat on the couch, looking up at the television in anticipation. Trixie sat beside me, and Vibia beside her. Our escort held both of our hands, and I silently thanked her for not pulling away in disgust at my sweat drenched palms. She told me it was fine to be nervous, but I didn't believe her. Everything depended on this moment. The way they rated me would determine how many sponsors I got, and that would possibly save my life in the games. Vibia wasn't like me though. She was calm, kept and hiding her anticipation. She didn't shake or even sweat, just stared at the screen as names and numbers passed in a blur.

The only few I caught were Amelia with a ten, something to do with her overall weapon knowledge. Gaius with a score of seven, probably involving his intelligence with those traps, snares and wires. Echo with a nine and Eta following his scores with ten. Persei with a four, and Karis with a score of eleven. My heart sinks when I see this, because I know nobody will get as high as her, and that she will be a target for the career pack; the very people she sought to destroy to survive. Winnow has a eight, and I let out a sigh of relief. It's enough to get her sponsors but not enough to make her a threat. I receive a score of seven, and Trixie pats me on the back to comfort me. We can work with that, she whispers, you'll be alright she says.

Following me is Vibia, and she receives a score of ten. We cheer for her, and I am surprised. No doubt her fellow career tributes will find this as a good thing, being able to use her to get sponsors and as a weapon until they no longer need her. When the night is over I find myself in my bedroom again, on the ground where I was from the start and looking out the window again. My mothers words still ring in my ears but I can't hear them as clear as I used to be able to.

I've started to transform and I haven't even been inside the arena. I hummed softly to myself, as I laid myself down on the ground without pillows or blankets. I knew the last step was before the arena. I would be interviewed, just like the other twenty three tributes. Then, in the arena, we would die. Twenty three of us, until a sole victor remained.


	8. Your time to shine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it's finally here! The Interview chapter. I am going to drag this out as long as I can because I want to enjoy what's left of the Capitol for the characters before throwing them into the Arena which will be my personal favorite. Everything up to this point has kind of been just to get it out of the way quick so. It's actually p. short on second notice but you know enjoy

"This years tributes for the Twenty fifth hunger games!"

The crowd is cheering, the air is heavy and I am shaking again. I regain enough of myself not to sweat, and try my best to calm down. I'm at the end of the line, I'm the very last, nobody will notice me. I try to comfort myself, and Laffie told me to not sweat too much or I'll ruin my suit. I have no idea what's in store for us, but on the screen hanging above us in the hallway I can see the boy from district one that Winnow likes. Her eyes are glued to the screen as we watch him charismatically converse with Julius Flickerman. He's wearing a white suit, with black shoes and a grey tie. It's not very impressive but compared to the rest of its the color is a striking contrast.

"So tell me, Price, do you have confidence in winning the games?" Julius asks.

"Yes. There is no way I'm going to go down without a fight." Price, as he is named, replies.

I let out a small sigh. He is a career district, we're going to kill him first if our alliance stays. But Winnow, she has a weakness for him. Her eyes follow him even when he leaves the stage and enters the hallway to pass us all. I think breifly how I would kill him, how any one else in our alliance would kill him. Anyone but Winnow. I wonder if he would kill Winnow, I wonder how deep her love for him runs. My attention flickers up to the television once more as I hear the voice of another familiar tribute, Amelia. I must have been too distracted by my thoughts to see the other two tributes pass, but now I'm focused.

"Amelia what a beautiful name, why did your parents name you that?"

"My parent's are very cultured." Amelia responds, nodding her head.

"And such bright red hair, with that dress! Isn't she just stunning audience?" Julius asks, looking out to the crowd.

I can hear them even from here cheering and clapping wildly. She is stunning, they're absolutely right. Her dress is skin tight, red like her hair. Apparantly they thought keeping it down so it could sway every time she moved her attention from the crowd back to Julius would entice the audience. And they were right, because I can't tear my eyes away from her. When her time passes Gaius is on stage. He is wearing a metalic looking suit that is sparkling and little lights are being seen coming on and off from under the fabric. I wonder how uncomfortable it must be to wear that suit.

"Now Gaius, your district does technology am I right?" Julius asks, a smile on his powdered face.

Gaius nods, "That's what we're famous for here in the Capitol anyway."

"Do you know much about technology?"

"What do you take me for, a career tribute?" Gaius jokes.

Nobody in the crowd laughs and Julius stares at Gaius blankly. I can hear Winnow or another tribute snort and I try to surpress a fit of giggles. They glare back at me, and I avert my gaze to the ground with a cough. When Gaius finishes, he thanks the crowd for their sense of humor, which I think is a direct insult. The next tribute that arrives on stage that I take notice of is Eta. She sits tall and hold her knees close together. Her dress goes down in waves and her dress looks like the sea, waves moving and everything when she shifts in her seat.

"What a beautiful dress!" Julius mentions.

"Thank you," Eta responds, "My stylist told me I looked like Poseidon's wife."

Julius and the crowd laugh, and he nods. "A nickname I think you quite well deserve."

"And much, much more." She throws out quickly, raising her eyebrows briefly and a devious smirk appearing on her face.

The crowd loves her, and I find myself admiring her as well. When she retreats, Echo gives her a soft look before glaring towards me when he notices I too was watching her. Then it's his turn. He arrives on stage with a sweet smile and soft words. His suit is the same as Eta's dress so not everyone is impressed to see it again, but there are some who eagerly sit on the edge of their seat. Julius asks him what it was like to be a tribute, and Echo replies that his sister had died in the games before him and he's willing to lay down his life in honor of her.

I understand then how little I know about Echo, but I brush it off.

The next on stage is Persei. She is innocent and cute, the crowd enjoys her but they don't marvel at her. Not like how they did with Eta or Amelia. Though she makes the best of her interview. Her and Julius banter back and forth easily and she's quiet in her responses but strong in her opinions. I envy her, and hope I can manage to be as smooth with my replies and as straight with the direction of the interview.

After Persei is Karis.

Her dress is short, and it seems to have a sort of play with lumber. Her breasts are covered only by two leaves, and the vines attach down to the bottom part. Her stomach and belly button are visible, but when it reaches the waist it becomes some sort of wood branching out to cover her thighs. It stops right before her knees, and so she has to be careful with how she sits. I could imagine her outfit is the most uncomfortable, especially with how stiff her body appears. The crowd cheers though, by the mere sight of her.

"So, are you proud about your training score?" Julius begins the interview with the unavoidable question.

Karis nods, "Of course." Her response is quiet and I wonder how audible it is.

"You look uncomfortable, are you okay?" He asks.

I see something spark in her eyes as she looks out into the audience. She's probably waiting for a cue, and apparantly she recieves it because she stands up. She reaches down to the hem of her dress and courtesies. Her dress suddenly falls down to the ground, in soft flower petals rather than the wood like material it appears to be. Birds fly from her hair and the crowd screams in awe and amazement. Green bush grows out, covering her lower half before the camera's can catch her nude. The vines are almost covering her entire abdomen, growing thorns as well as flowers, and I can't decide what they were going for. Deadly, or beautiful? I know the truth though, she is both.

When she is dismissed she's glowing. A boy follows after her, from her district. I don't recognise him in honesty but he appears to be twitchy and tired. He's calm when he talks, but sometimes he will out of nowhere speak quickly and doze off. When he's dismissed I mindlessly watch the rest of the tributes go onto stage. Up until I see Winnow.

She's stunning, more beautiful than any of them. Her silk gown splits off to two parts and exposes one of her legs. It's a cream color like wheat, which makes sense since she's from District nine. Her hair is down, one of her eyes covered by her bangs, which has been exaggerated to give her more sex appeal. The dress doesn't focus on her breast, but more her entire figure. Her hips are the most desirable part, and the design of the dress makes that obvious. Though when she sits, she does so with her legs wide open. Her stylist must have accounted for that, because her womanhood is covered completely. One of her legs is naked and bare, and the crowd is gasping and whispering at such a horrible posture.

I realise that I'm not even listening to the actual interview when I see her stand, and she exits. Scolding myself, I clench my fists and frown.

When the time comes around, it's Vibia's turn. She goes out on stage with a smile, she's charismatic and beautiful. She is shy but she is there. Vibia laughs with Julius, but she has no material to work with. If he isn't asking a question, she isn't saying anything. She's boring and dull to the Capitol, but she's beautiful. Her stylist must've known she wouldn't speak, so decided to use her body as her appealing factor more than her voice.

Her dress is flickering at the bottom, with little sparks of fire coming off at the bottom. She is wearing something similar to mine, but it looks more dangerous and Julius mentions he's afraid to come too close. She laughs, telling him if he does come too close he might get hurt, because she's more prepared than she looks. I take her seriously, and don't want to test it.

Then she exits, and it's my turn.

I walk onto stage, and I can hear the crowd clapping in civil kindness to me. I can feel myself shaking, though I am still when Julius takes my hand and shakes it firmly. You can do this, he's whispering. I sit down when he releases my hand and I can't take my eyes off of him. Not because he's beautiful; quite the opposite. I do it because I know if I look away from him I will sweat, break down at the sight of the crowd. Though now that I look at him, I can see him much better. He is older, probably a father with the stress lines that mimic my own fathers face. His hair is held up, almost in a ponytail but not quite. He is wearing a suit which is changing colors, his hair is white. I don't think he's dyed it, it looks too natural.

"Tell me Wade, what is your opinion on this years hunger games?" He asks me.

"The Quarter Quell?" I ask, hoping to know exactly what he's asking.

"Yes." Julius says.

Honestly? I think it is horrible. It is worse than the Hunger games, and I didn't even know there could be anything worse. Making your own people turn against you, forever living with that regret? I would spit in the face of the Capitol if it had one, but I'm not sure it does. Even the president doesn't have a face, not a real one.

"I would love to see next Quarter Quell's twist, if I live long enough." I reply charmingly, and the crowd laughs. I look at them.

To my surprise I don't falter. I smile at them. But inwardly I growl and frown at them. They find it humorous but it wasn't even a joke. It wasn't truth either, maybe they enjoy lies. I wonder if I lie enough then they'll begin to like me. These people, these liars and cosmetic failures, they are my saviors. I must impress them somehow. I don't know how, I really don't. My suit is just a mirror copy of Vibia's and I wasn't given much to work with. I look to Julius when he stops laughing and takes my hand to speak to me like I'm his child.

"Well, I hope you win."

"I will," I reply without a second thought. There is silence, before I add, "or thats what everyone keeps telling me."

Julius smiles and the crowd claps as he raises me up. I am turned to leave and I take soft strides out. I was the last one. I return to our penthouse and go straight to my room. Vibia and the rest are cheering but I'm not sure what for. My hands aren't shaking by the time I'm out of my clothes and have my fathers hat in my hands. I'm at the window again, staring out at the city. They've changed me, I'm gone.

My hands are still, my eyes are focused and my body isn't sweating. I wonder if my sister or my father watched me tonight. I wonder if they could even recognise me. I wonder if anyone could. The arena is tomorrow, my death is the following. I can't tell if I'm going to win, or if I'm going to die. I've convinced myself I can win, but that doesn't mean I will. I just hope I've convinced everyone else that I'll win too.

 


	9. Twenty four tributes, and only one victor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Longest chapter? Not quite sure. Don't care either, it's the first day in the Arena so you're gonna like it no matter how long it is. Amen.

It's the morning, probably around four or so. The sun isn't up, but it's starting to become light when they wake us up to say their final goodbyes. The entire prep team, Laffie and even our escort Trixie give us a long embrace before threatening to let go. I wonder how many children they've held before the games, before they died. Then they get us ready, Laffie taking me off into another room while Vibia's stylist does the same. They dress us in a simple outfit, not the full thing Laffie tells me. Just enough of an outfit so that we can go on the hovercraft. When the time comes, we are taken into a small room. Jokes on us, I think. This room is meant to be our last goodbye and final advice from our mentor, Trixie is the one who tells me. If we _had_ a mentor.

Being district twelve we're one of the last people to get on the hover craft, and everyone has odd sitting arrangments. It isn't sitting beside your district partner, its all jumbled up to sit by who ever you want. I sit beside Karis, because she is blocking the seat left of Winnow. The other seat is taken by Price, but i'm not surprised in the least. A woman comes around, wearing peace keeper clothing and holding a gun. It looks like a gun anyway, but its exaggerated and has a long, pipe that leads down the barrel of the gun. She comes to us, each one by one. Taking their arm, she puts the tip to their skin and some sort of device implants under the flesh that blinks for only a second.

"What's that?" I ask, when she reaches me.

She doesn't respond, only grabs my arm roughly and implants the foreign device into me as well. I stare at it, wondering if I even want to know. "It's a tracking device," Karis begins from my side, "it's so when you die they can tell so they can send the cannon off and put your name in the sky at night."

I look up at Karis, and I can see she's focused on looking at her own, though it's no longer visible. Moving my attention to where mine was planted, I stare at it too. It's much more than to make sure they know when we die, I think to myself. They want to make sure we are their toys, so we don't get out of check. So we don't find the way out, and so they can make sure of that. We lift off then, or at least I think we do. Maybe we already lifted off, but I can't be sure. Within minutes though we're there, and after that in the launch room.

My launch room is small, dull and frightening at all the same time. There are hangers, and a desk with a chair. Laffie accompanies me to the room, and the hangers already hold my arena outfit within the room by the time we get there. Showers, food and drinks, it's all available. Though I know I don't have enough time to use any of this, not really. She pulls out the first part, and I put it on. It's a full body swimsuit, or kind of. It's sleveless, not even covering my entire shoulder. It's boxed though, not v-line to expose any of my chest. The way down from there is completely covered until the ankle, then it cuts off. It's skin tight, light. I can barely feel it, it is almost like an extension to my own skin. I cringe at the thought of a water arena, considering I haven't swam in water my entire life and the closest I've gotten to it was a lake.

There is another outfit, and it throws me off completely. The boots are dark brown, lace ups that take quite a while to get on. Dark green cargo pants that tuck under the boots. Now I think the arena is going to have a forest, but i'm not sure at this point. The jacket is a dark green, almost black with a v-line cut that exposes the neck. There are dark brown leather sleeves that start at the elbow where the light fabric of the actual jacket ends, and they extend out to the wrist. Then, holding the pieces closed together over the chest and abdomen are buckles, at least on first appearance. They are actually velcro, probably for easy put on and take off. Though there are also buckles, real buckles, in the center of each shoulder area.

"What kind of arena is this supposed to be?" I ask Laffie, but she shakes her head softly.

"We get to see the arena the same time you do." She tells me.

I should have already knew that, but I thought the Capitol always knew. They were the monsters who made the game, who laughed and who enjoyed it all the same. So why didn't they know about the Arena before us? Because it's a television show to them, I tell myself. Once I am fully dressed I look forward and around the room. I can see it, the tribute tube. It will send me up into the arena and I'm so close to it. So close to the final deed. I wonder if I'll be dead within minutes, if i'll die in the blood bath. I turn to Laffie, who is holding my fathers hat in her hands and holding it to me.

"Wear it as a token." She says.

"Is that even allowed?" I ask, not quite sure myself as I take it from her and put it on anyway. I don't care if it's allowed or not, I want to wear it. I want my family to see me wearing it so they know that the Capitol hasn't changed me. That I still remember them. My family, my district, everyone. Laffie shakes her head, I don't understand if that means it isn't allowed or she doesn't know, but suddenly I hear a voice echo through the room telling me there are thirty seconds to enter the tribute tube.

"I'm scared." I admit, looking to her suddenly with wide eyes. I grab her arms tightly as she reaches out to me, but I can feel her backing me up towards the tube.

"There is nothing to be afraid of Wade, you'll win." She tells me, gently pushing me closer until finally I'm in the tube.

She backs away, and before I can follow her in footsteps the tube closes. My eyes are wide still and I turn the other way when I feel the plate under my feet begin to rise. There are tears in my eyes and screams which have died on my tongue. I could choke, I tell myself, on my own vomit if I so well pleased. When I stop, I can't see a thing. The sun is too light, the figures are blurry and I'm too unhinged to focus on anything but a large countdown that is above the Cornucopia. Then, everything begins to put itself together and I can see.

The Cornucopia is golden, large and the mouth holds weapons. Scattered from there on out is bags which could hold anything. It's meadow, for a mile no matter which way I turn to look. Then shrubbery, and from there forest. Twenty three other tributes are on their own plates, and I'm too scared to get off of mine. The countdown frightens me, because I can't understand what everyone is waiting for. There must be a reason why nobody is getting of their plates, and then it clicks. They can't, not until that counter hits zero. Whatever happens when you take a step early, I assume it's a certain death execution.

Then it happens, the counter hits zero.

The other tributes, everyone bolts forward. All except for Gaius, who's running into the forest for his life. I don't move, I'm frozen like a statue as I watch everyone else running to the Cornucopia. The careers get there first, Eta and Echo get their hands on harpoons, one for each and then it blurs. The motions of killing, Price has a sword and he's already sliced a girl open. Eta harpoons down a girl who tries to run, and Echo gives her his harpoon instead of making her go retrieve it from the dead body. My sight is tilting from side to side and I can feel my body tipping gently and my stomach churning. I see Vibia, she's at the Cornucopia protected by the careers until suddenly a knife is being wedged into her back. Amelia pulls the knife out of my partners corpse when she falls to the ground and dies. That's when the entire scene is a complete blur, blood and bodies mixing and mingling in my vision. The world goes into a sort of mute where you're trying to block out the sounds of screaming with a pillow.

"WADE GET OUT OF THERE!" I hear a voice scream, but I don't. I can't, not with everything going on I don't have time to think properly or move or anything.

Suddenly I'm being picked up, bridal style, by someone. I open my mouth to scream but I can't. No I only make a small noise that resembles a mouse. I am bouncing in someone's arms, and we're running. It takes us quite some time before the entire Cornucopia is out of my sight though, and then I know who it is. Winnow, the slow runner she is, has carried me out of the sight of careers, of killers. When the rest of my senses have calmed down, another one is flooded and overwhelmed. The smell and sight of blood, and i'm not sure who it belongs to, but it's all over Winnow. She slows to a stop and sits me down, and I can manage to stand on my own for now at least.

"Wade, Wade are you okay?" Winnow asks, her voice takes on a tone of worry that I haven't heard since my step mother visited me to say her goodbye before the games. Her hands are on my face and they are wet and red.

That's when she notices, because she hasn't already. She turns from me, putting a hand on her stomach and observing the other one as she hunches over. Silently she gags, almost about to throw up but not really. She doesn't have anything to throw back up, and even if she did she wouldn't. In these games, we can't risk throwing up anything, we need everything we can get. Closing her eyes, Winnow calms herself enough to stand back up and look at me. My face is no better, there is blood smeared on my cheeks and I can smell it. When I reach up to touch it I know it's still there, because it smudges on my finger and stays there as I stare at it.

"We have to go, we have to find a pond or something to clean us up." She tells me.

Winnow picks up a bag she dropped, probably the same time she put me down. She grabs my arm and we are walking through the forest like area. We could've seen for miles if it wasn't so dark and there wasn't a thick haze spreading around us. It's all dark green but the tree's barely have branches. They're thin and they're tall but they aren't climbing material. Even if you got to the top, a harpoon could still hit you, I think to myself. Especially with somebody who has aim like Eta or Echo. Even a knife could force you to tumble down to the ground. "What if they find us?" I find myself asking.

"That's inevitable," She's blunt, "but now we have to find some pond and look at what we have okay? Regroup with the others. ."

We continue walking in a direction, and I'm not sure what direction. Maybe if we could see the sun from here I could be able to tell, but there is no sun. It isn't peaking in, and if it is then the haze has hidden it from us. Winnow doesn't seem scared, but she looks as frightened as I do. She's covered in blood and it's smeared all over me too, my hands my face and even some of my clothes from how she held me when she ran. I don't think she has a very high tolerance for blood by the way she won't look at me or herself. That's why, I tell myself, that is why we need to find a pond or a stream or anything. Though it suddenly occurs to me anything could be dangerous, what if there are no streams or water sources? Then we'll have to live in our skin with blood everywhere for the rest of the game until it's our blood that we're covered in.

"Is it your blood?" I ask.

"Only a little, the girl from District two threw a knife at me when I was getting out of there. She only slashed my arm a bit, besides she was too busy trying to. . " Winnow stops.

It's not because she hears anything, but because she remembers. I do too, but vaguely. Vibia, my partner, she was killed by Amelia. She was too busy trying to murder my tribute partner. We remain silent after that, treading forward and being careful about everything. We have no idea what this Arena could do to us if we take a wrong turn, but we fear the tributes more than we fear our surroundings. I think back at the training session, where the woman informed us anything in the Arena could kill us, and is more likely to than other tributes. I want to believe that, but I can't convince myself of that, not after what I've just seen.

We come across a small stream, much to my surprise. It's flowing and it's doing so in the direction opposite of the Cornucopia. At least, I think it is anyway. Winnow places the bag on the side of the stream on a rock, but I pick it up after she puts it down. I don't want us to lose it, especially if we have to dart on a seconds notice. She starts cleaning her skin, her hair, anything she can. She even takes off her jacket and runs it through the water. Under her jacket is the same as mine, a water suit adjusted differently than mine only to accommadate her gender. "I haven't seen enough water around to explain why we have these water suits. . " I say, looking around to make sure nobody is following us and to back up my point.

Winnow doesn't look up from the water though, she's calm and focused, "I'm sure we'll run into it soon enough."

I nod, but I don't like it. Even though it's true, because we probably haven't even been halfway around the arena yet. It's huge, I'm sure it is. The Quarter Quell is some big twist on the hunger games, so I bet this was a great way for the game makers to stretch their legs with their sadistic, horrific ideas. When she's finished, Winnow reaches out to me and says quietly, "come here."

I do so, kneeling beside her and she's washing me off. She manages to force the bag out of my hand but puts it between her legs as she washes me to assure me it will stay with us. She takes my jacket, and I let her. I trust her, more than I should but that doesn't stop me. I watch as she washes it through the water, and then holds it up and waves it, strings it out and tries to dry it as soon as she can. Her own is already dry, across her lap and over the bag. When mine does dry, we put both of ours on and then turn our attentions towards the bag she got from the Cornucopia.

"What do you think is in it?" I ask.

"Whatever it is, it will tell us all that we need to know about the Arena." She replies.

I give her a questioning look as she opens it. She must have noticed because, before she explores the contents with me, Winnow stops. She looks up to me and lets out a sigh, muttering that she forgot I didn't have a mentor to help me. "Karis' mentor told her that whatever you find in the bag tells you about the arena, just like our outfits."

I understand now. There is water, a beach maybe somewhere in the Arena. Sea, I hope not, but there still might be. But there was forest, so we were dressed in outfits that could take up both of the enviorments with ease. I nod then, and she takes out whatever was in the bag. There is a flask, but it's empty. Bread, a long loaf but not enough to last more than a day if we be picky and split it with each other. A simple kitchen knife and some wire.

"Shit." Winnow scoffs, and I realise what she means.

The wire could've been a great weapon, if we knew where Gaius was. I watch as she puts everything back safely in the bag, throwing it over her shoulder and standing. I stand with her, and we cross the stream and then follow it. We don't risk trying to drink it, but with what we have I assume it's safe enough to drink. Still, we don't stop for anything.

"Gaius is alive, I saw him run away from the Cornucopia at the start." I tell her.

"He's smart, but it doesn't mean a damn thing if we don't find him. He'll starve in this arena." She replies. She is right, based on the fact we've gotten bread I think that is a sign that unless it is something from the Cornucopia, it's not edible. Though I wouldn't be able to tell, neither of us would. Not without Karis.

"Do you think we'll find him and Karis?" I ask.

Winnow shrugs as she answers, "They both could be dead for all we know. Especially since Karis got such a high score. If they haven't killed her, they're hunting for her."

I know who she means. The career pack, they will be looking for her. She is the only one of us that can really threaten them, that could kill them. I doubt if they teamed up against her that she would have much chance, but I think back to Amelia. Perhaps our luck is running, and she killed the rest of the careers? I snort at myself, there is no way she would be able to. If she threw a knife at either Eta or Allen one of the two who hadn't been hit would be throwing a harpoon straight into her chest. The mental image, I find, doesn't horrify me as much as the real image would.

We finally stop walking, when Winnow demands that we rest. It feels like we've been walking for hours in complete circles, but she assures we're near the end of the forest. We sit then, on the ground that is covered by leaves and dead grass. She leans against a tree, closing her eyes tightly and trying to scrub mental images out. I can't close my eyes, because I'm afraid if I do then I'll see it again, everything that happened at the bloodbath. She was closer than me though, she was in the bloodbath, participating in it even if she was only hit. I didn't even make it that far, and without her I would be dead right now.

"Sleep," I tell her, "we'll take turns on watch."

She doesn't say anything, doesn't even open her eyes. She just nods, to tell me she heard me and agreed with my plan. Winnow falls asleep, I think. She snores, but not loud enough that I need to worry. I take the bag from her side, where she's left it. I take out the knife and hold it as I stand and look around. I pick the bag up too, throwing it over my shoulders and standing there over her. She's beautiful when she sleeps, even if her mouth is agape and she is snoring. Her eyes are closed and her hair is flowing down her back. Her stylist pinned her bangs to the side, so they wouldn't get in her way. Almost all of her hair is pinned back so it couldn't fly into her eyes, and I think how smart that is. My hat is still on my head, to my surprise. My hair is too short to get in my eyes, but even if it was long enough my hat forces it into a certain style so it won't be the cause for my harm.

My eyes move away from her when I think I hear something. I kneel beside her with my knife clenched in hand as I look around. Nothing, I can't see anything. I let out a sigh at my paranoid nature before applauding myself. At least I would be prepared if somebody were going to butcher us in our sleep, I think to myself. Then, I hear something again. It's above us though, somehow. I look up, and then I see an owl. I stand, cautiously and smile up at it.

"What are you doing here?" I whisper, as it eyes me.

It doesn't move, doesn't do anything. Not until suddenly its screaming. My eyes widen and i'm shaking Winnow, who's already starting to wake up. 'Nine, Nine, Nine!' It yells, and I gape in horror as Winnow jumps up and I begin to understand why its screeching the number nine. The owl is screaming her district's number, he's ratting us out to the other tributes and waiting for them to find and kill us. "We have to go!" I say to Winnow, and she nods at me.

We run, but the owl follows us quickly. I have the bag in my left hand, and the knife in my right hand. The weight slows me down enough to be at the same speed and pace as Winnow, who is breaking a sweat by visibly trying to run faster than she normally does. It's relentless, it never ceases. The owl is flying after us, jumping and hopping between branches at it screeches out Winnow's district number over and over. "I could throw my knife." I suggest to her, but she just glares at me.

No, we need that knife. I can see the look in her eyes as we continue to run. We won't survive without it, that is what her gaze tells me. We'd be better off dead without that knife.

We reach the edge of the woods, which leads to a steep downhill green area that leads off into a meadow with higher grass than at the Cornucopia. Winnow doesn't falter in her run, but I trip. I roll down the hill and she catches me at the bottom. I managed not to hurt myself or drop the knife which amazes us both. It's only then when we stop and notice that the owl is no longer following us.

"It must have a border." Winnow observes, and we both look up at the forest area.

It looks ominous, dark and high from here. You can't see anything past the haze that surrounds it, and it works as some sort of curtain, so you can't see in or out no matter which way you're looking from. Winnow stands me up, and eyes the knife I have in my hand. I look from it to her and then hand it to her as I explain myself, "I was trying to protect you while you slept." She nods, because she believes me. But that doesn't stop her from taking the knife from me. 

"Where are we?" I ask, now observing the rest of our surroundings.

"We're on an island, I think." Winnow replies to me, and I think she's right.

The borders of land that we can see from here are skirted with water, and from then on sea. I inwardly frown, because I have no idea how to swim and there wasn't a station in the training center to allow me to learn. Stay away from the water, I tell myself. I'd only drown. Winnow looks around, and then I start observing the land area as well. The only thing in sight is an area that has more trees and thicker fog than the forest, but I wouldn't exactly call it that. I don't know the name of it, and neither does Winnow. There is too much water for it to be a forest, and the entire land seems to be drenched.

"Maybe we can get water." I suggest.

Winnow nods, and we take off to that direction. We're silent when we walk, and my hand clenches in the absence of the knife. We are both good enough to fight, but I'm not sure if either of us would kill. I know I couldn't, but I can't quite tell with Winnow. We cross the long meadow, with high grass. She smiles when we do, and tells me it reminds her of her home. District nine, I recall, is wheat. It makes enough sense to me, but nothing reminds me of home. Not really, anyway.

"So where did you get that hat? I saw you wearing it on your chariot." Winnow says, and I blush. I wasn't aware of her on the chariot day, but apparantly she had seen me from the start.

"It's my dads, actually. A token, I guess." I tell her.

She smiles at me, "A token, something to remind you of home."

I nod, attent to how she says it. Her words sound like she's mocking the capitol and their rule. I don't think it's to mock them though, not really. Though it does bring me to question, "do you have a token?"

Winnow shakes her head, "No, not one they would let me take in the Arena anyway."

I don't ask, because it seems she's hurt by my question in the first place. Besides, we've reached the fog and are moving around the last patches of land that we really have anything to work with before the water is everywhere. I stare in amazement, gasping at it. The water is beautiful, clear and untouched in appearance by the gross moss that hangs from the tree or the soggy ground that surrounds it. I look to Winnow, and she's staring at it with concentration. That's right, we can't trust anything in this arena can we?

"I'll taste it first." I tell her, kneeling to the ground and pulling off the back pack.

"No, I'll do it." She says.

I stare up at her for a moment, before nodding and holding up the flask after I've retrieved it. She takes it and kneels down as well. When the entire container is full to the brim with water, she gently sips it. We wait, and nothing happens. So we take it as a go to drink, and I find myself kneeling over the water and lapping at it like some stray dog. She saves the rest of the water for later, putting it in the flask and packing it up while I drink. When I finish I stand and move behind her. We stay there for a while, just standing there and enjoying the peace we have in the arena.

Then, we begin to feel odd, shaking and coughing. She first, then me. Winnow makes a noise, and then suddenly she's on the ground throwing up and I cringe in complete disgust at the smell that comes from it. Then, before I can open my mouth and ask her what the matter is, I'm throwing up beside her as well. I am shaking when my senses restore themselves, and all I can think about it how utterly disgusting I feel. Again, I throw up, again and again. I feel like my insides are going to wash out along with the odd liquid coming out if I keep it up, but I can't move. I can feel my elbows growing weak and I consider how lucky I am to even still be on my hands and knees. I don't know how Winnow is doing, but I can hear her becoming sick as well beside me. We're practically crawling in our own vomit by the time I feel somebody grab my shoulder and pull us out.

When I see the sun, I whimper. It almost stings my skin, and it feels like I'm on fire. I'm released by who ever picked me up, and placed on the ground on my front. I throw up one more time for good measure before my insides settle down. Beside me I can see Winnow on her back, breathing heavily and eyes threatening to close. I crawl to her, putting a hand on her shoulder. Stay with me, I think. She must have read my mind, before she reaches a hand up and grips mine tightly before turning her head to look at me.

We're going to die here, I think to myself. This is the end.

Then, the person who helped us out speaks to us. I can't hear anything but a general voice, and when another voice pips in I understand whomever it is, they aren't talking to us. The flask is brought to my lips and I try my best to turn my head away from it, but they hold me down and force me to drink it. No, no! I scream in my head, it will kill me! Then, when they make sure I've swallowed it, they move to Winnow and do the same. She doesn't protest though, I don't think she has enough movement left to protest.

I close my eyes once, then open them. Another time, then open. Close, then open. I can hear the world restoring itself, and when the sky is darkening I push myself up. My hat is on the ground, the bag is flung to the side, but the knife is nowhere to be seen. But there is Winnow, beside me recovering just like I did. I look around, and sitting behind me I see Gaius and Karis.

"I'm glad that worked," Gaius begins, "I wasn't sure it would for an hour there."

An hour? How long had I been out in total? How long had we been throwing up every meal we ever ate by ourselves waiting for the end to just come? I make a noise that resembles a growl toward Gaius, before making a squeak of relief to see Karis. They hadn't found her or killed her, I am happy with surprise.

"You should really not make any noises or talk," Karis warns me quickly, "you could rip your vocal cords or something else."

I smile, and shake my head. The world is still moving funny, but in time relief washes over me and Winnow is up too, by the time I'm completely fine. They give her the same warning, and she just glares at them before glancing to me with concern. I nod, holding her hand once more, unaware I had ever let go. And then, when the sun is down and stars are above us Winnow is fully recovered, and I am twice as better than I was before we went in there.

"It's a swamp." Gaius tells us, "judging by how you were throwing your guts up it has some sort of chemical in the fog."

"How did you cure us?" Winnow asks, voice more hoarse than usual.

"We found your flask and lined it with some medicine we got from the sponsors." Karis responded.

"We could've died if the water was the reason for us throwing up like that though!" I protest, but my words falter when my neck strains and I make a noise of pain. I'm not quite yet ready to be yelling at anyone, so I keep my voice level and calmed to prevent straining myself.

"Then you would've died and we would've known not to go into the swamp for water." Gaius snaps back at me.

I'm offended, but it appears I am the only one. Winnow isn't offended, but I guess none of us should be. I shouldn't even, because thats the way this game works. If we would've died, then at least somebody else wouldn't have died the same way. Though now I see that the water within the swamp is harmless, even if they enviorment around it isn't without the proper medicine at hand and a quick entrance and exit.

"How come the careers haven't found us? We've been camped here for hours at least. ." I ask, looking around. There was practically nobody in sight.

"Most of them stayed in the Cornucopia area, and when they did venture to the forest they either tracked down those who were made a target by those muttations or ran back because those muttations turned on them." Karis tells me.

"The owls. ." I say.

They nod, both Gaius and Karis. They must have encountered them too. Though I'm sure it's only a matter of time before the careers figure out there is an end to the forest, and that there is so much more to the arena than the Cornucopia. I suddenly hear the anthem playing, and we all look up at the sky. I don't remember hearing any cannons, but I may have been unconscious.

There hanging above us is the picture of the girl from district one, and I frown. Despite the fact that having one career tribute out of the way, I can't help but think of the family she may have had. Winnow releases my hand, and I look at her. She's anxious, scared. I look up at the sky and it skips Price, and in response I hear Winnow let out a shaky sigh. She's relieved, I can tell. District two boy and district three girl, I see Gaius tense. District four has both of their tributes still alive I notice, when neither of them come up. Persei and her partner are both gone, which I'm sure causes all of District five to mourn. District six is also out, but Karis and her partner are still alive. Eight's girl is out, but the boy is still here somewhere. Winnow is alive, but her partner is deceased. Ten has nobody just like five, and I frown at the thought. Both tributes from district eleven are up, and then there is Vibia.

When I see her face playing to that horrible, disgusting anthem I can't help but sob. Winnow is at my side instantly, a hand over my mouth and another patting my back in comfort. I cry, not restraining my screams because Winnow is muting me out and allowing me to mourn my partner. Vibia, with golden hair and bright eyes is nothing more than a corpse. Another child for District twelve to mourn over. One of the many, but to me she was special. She was Vibia, the girl I saw in a sparkling dress and the one who spoke to me before we were forced to turn to our survival.

None of them mourn their partners like I do, and Karis doesn't even have to. Gaius remains silent, and Winnow just whispers soothing words to me saying she knows. Karis watches for a career, or for anyone really to jump out and try to kill us.

By the time I'm finished crying I am hungry. My stomach growls and they all look at me. I frown, threatening tears again before Winnow removes her hands and grabs our bag. She pulls out the bread and rips it to four pieces, splitting it up between us. I eat all of my piece, though they salvage what they can of theirs and put it back. Winnow seems suddenly distressed, "Where is our knife?"

"What?" Gaius asks, as if he didn't hear her properly.

"Where is our knife?!" Winnow asks again, more ergency in her voice.

"You didn't have a knife on you when we pulled you out of there." Karis replies steadily.

"I had it in my hand!" Winnow states, searching the bag with a wild need.

"You must have dropped it when we were getting sick." I say.

She glares at me, but I know she doesn't mean it in a rude way. She's scared because it was the only weapon we had, even if it was a silly excuse for even that. Neither Karis or Gaius have one with them it seems, so now we are sitting ducks.

"I have to go back and get it." Winnow says.

But before she can even get to her knee's I have her hand within mine, glaring at her and begging her to stay. We can't go in there, not again. Gaius looks between us and nods, "I'll get it." He says.

I can't bring myself to stop him, and he's already up before Karis can. He's pulled off his jacket and wrapped it around his face as if to prevent himself from inhaling the fog. I don't know how much it will help, but I watch him. Then, he disappears in the fog and we wait in anticipation. I let go of Winnow, who is sitting again. It's a waiting game, but even then Karis doesn't stop scouting for us all. Gaius returns, coughing and shaking. He pulls off his jacket from his face and lays the knife on the ground. Winnow takes it before I can, but Gaius doesn't care. He's searching through the bag for water. I look at him, observing how ill he looks. He coughs and shivers every time, his hands weakly push past the bread and wire to find the flask. When it's out he's opening it, reaching over to Karis to grab some sort of little tube of medicine, lining the edge and taking gulps of the water. He saves some, but not much.

Within a few minutes, he's fine. He's not even shaking or coughing anymore. I wonder when the Sponsors gave them that medicine, but shrug my thoughts off quickly.

"You three should sleep." I suggest, eyeing all of them. They all have bags under their eyes, and I wonder if I do too. I don't feel tired, but I also just ate as much as I could from what they gave me. Winnow shakes her head, and demands I rest with the other two, her being the only one of us all to have actually slept even if it was for only a few minutes. I don't protest, but I can see suspicion in Gaius' eyes when he looks to Karis. Karis nods, telling him to trust her.

We all lay down, and I prefer to lay on my back to look up at the sky. It's not natural, it's not right. It isn't the same one the Capitol shares with my District. It's ugly, it's dark and it's different some how. The game makers have found away to turn all my consolations into something more sick and twisted. With a frown, I turn to my side and close my eyes. I try to sleep, to think of my district. My family, Vibia, everyone.

I try to imagine everyone alive and happy in a world better than this. .

 

 

 


	10. A time to rise, a time to fall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the song The Parting Glass by Ed Sheeran is probably going to be playing in the distance for this chapter and the next one for my inspiration especially in the chapter name because really come on guys it fits.  
> Anyway, enjoy the chapter.

I awake to the arena, the sky is still fairly dark but the sun is on the horizon and rising, meaning it wont be forever. When I push myself to sit up I find that everyone aside from me was awake. Gaius appears to be playing with the wire, no doubt imagining how to make it a deadly trap. Karis is scouting, and I wonder if she can do anything else. Winnow greets me to the morning, handing my hat to me. It is only then I see the slash wound on her arm that has sliced through her jacket. The wound from the bloodbath, I dismay when I remind myself where she received it from. I take the hat from her, thanking her and put it back on.

"How long has everyone been awake?" I ask.

"An hour, I assume." Gaius responds, putting the wire away in the bag and picking it up.

When Gaius stands so does the girls, silently following him. I do too, but in my own time. I'm still waking up, rubbing my eyes and yawning despite the best of me trying not to. Winnow still has the knife in her hands, but by now it seems like it's simply her nature. We walk through the meadows, and I'm not sure what direction we're going or what we're going to encounter. The forest which holds the Cornucopia lingers on top the hill, and it seems no matter how much we circle it, it is always the highest point. There doesn't seem like much else to the arena, that is until we come to a slow and see a desert like grounds. It's not even an entire landscape because it's really small. It looks more like a playground or a sandpit you would find at a school or something, but larger. It doesn't seem to stretch out as much as the forest or the swamp though.

"Let's keep moving, it's a death trap from here I can see it." Gaius says, and everyone nods including me.

He is right, it's just a death trap waiting to happen. We continue, until I see something and look back. I stop, and everyone seems to notice because in the corner of my eye they do too. I look around, seeing the grass move as though somebody was moving through it. Maybe I'm just tired, and I almost dismiss it before it's happening again. Suddenly I raise a finger up, within my groups view and begin to slowly approach the last movement. I want to see whether this is just my imagination, another trick of the games, or an actual threat. When I approach close enough, I kneel, just below the grass. They can still see me, but whatever I'm following can't. There's a wall of grass in between us, and that is plenty of shade for me to discover it.

Suddenly, I hear panting above me. I slowly look up the vine of the grass, until it ends and I see thick fur. White and orange, not a bear or a wolf. When my eyes scale up the entire animal, I know what it is. Well, not really. I just have a word on the tip of my tongue that I'm sure Gaius will tell me later, but it's a cousin of the wolf yet not as violent as it, or at least I hope not. But it isn't an animal, not with how it's suddenly standing on it's hind legs. I am frozen, looking up at it and I can hear Gaius whispering for us all not to move. If only I had the knife, then I could possibly gut the muttation and high tail it out of there. But I can't, not with it's gaze.

We all stay there for a while, before suddenly the muttation grabs my hat and runs.

"Give that back!" I yell, and I try to run after it.

Karis is on me though, grabbing me and pulling me back. "We don't have time for it, leave it." She hisses. I try to kick her away, watching as the muttation with a long tail skirts away with my family heirloom. My token from my father, and how mad he would be at me for losing it. When the muttation retreats into the sandpit, as I am calling it, I know I won't get it back. No, it's pointless now. I let out a cry of pain and Karis puts a hand over my mouth, threatening to leave me here or kill me now if I don't smart up real fast. I take her seriously, because she would abandon me if I force them to fall behind of schedule. Or, whatever plan they devised without me while I was asleep.

When she releases me, I let out a sound of pain and she's already back at Gaius' side walking. He spares some glances back at me, but then they are on their way. Winnow comes beside me, holding me close to her and rubbing my shoulder with the hand she currently isnt gripping a knife with. In silence, she pulls me along. I can't stare at anything but the ground, up until I can smell something sour. I look up, and there is the beach. We stop at the edge of the grass, just where the sand starts to begin. I blankly stare at the water, but don't move. I'll drown if I step in, because the tide will force me in and the waves will keep me under.

"I'll go taste the water, to see if it's drinkable or not. Hand me the flask." Karis says.

Gaius opens the bag and gives her the flask, which she takes with greedy hands. She walks to the shore, putting her finger in the water then her mouth to test it. Nodding, she signals us that it's okay. I wonder if all the water in this arena is fine to drink, but then I think about the swamp. There was some sort of twist, there always is. Karis doesn't waste time, filling up the flask and back to our sides as quick as she can. We stay there, and I wonder what we're waiting for when they begin to banter between each other.

"We should go back into the forest." Karis suggests.

Gaius shakes his head, "No."

"Yeah those owls seemed pretty determined." Winnow says, in agreement with Gaius.

Karis' eyebrows furrow as she frowns, "We can kill them if they come for us, there's only one for each right? Besides we can't just stay out here waiting for the game makers or the careers to kill us off."

She makes a point there, and it trumps all of our protests. Even though, in reality, I haven't even spoken since the muttation stole my hat. I have no reason to, not with everything I love being taken away from me one by one, day by day. I wonder how long it will take before the game makers or the other tributes take my life as well. Before I know it, we're moving again. Walking up the hill and into the forest. It's suffocating when we pass through the curtain, as I like to call it. I must not have noticed when Winnow and I ran through it last time, but this time it is hard to ignore. I breathe heavily for the first few minutes into it, but we're all up and aware. Prepared, I hope, for any of the career districts to jump on us.

"I need a weapon, we're going into the Cornucopia." Karis suddenly demands.

The change of plan does not agree with any of us aside from her. Gaius argues, and Winnow remains silent with me. The two argue like a married couple, though they won't have the chance for that I discourage myself. It's a suicide mission, both Gaius and I agree there. There are still four career tributes, one for each of us and none of us could really face one of them with an actual chance aside from Karis.

"I have a plan." She assures.

So we listen, we all kneel to the ground as she rips out some grass to make a open spot and pushes leaves aside. Winnow offers her knife because Karis demands it, and then she's scribbling into the ground. It's the forest, then the Cornucopia. She points the knife at where she assumes we are. She suggests we split up, Winnow and I staying on the north side of the forest, where we currently are, while she and Gaius will split up and go around to the west and south parts of the forest. Gaius makes a run through the Cornucopia, as the fastest of us all, to distract the careers and trick them into following him. Karis runs through horizontally, grabbing weapons for all of us and running straight into the bushes before she can be noticed. Then, she'll regroup with us and give us the weapons.

"Let me come with you." Winnow says, but Karis shoves the knife at her.

"No, we need you two to protect what supplies we have left." Karis objects.

Gaius doesn't raise a fight up in Winnow's favor, so we all silently agree that Winnow will be protecting me. Gaius hands off the bag to me, taking the wire which he could use as a weapon should it come down to that. Karis has nothing, but she doesn't need anything she assures us. If not all of the careers are gone by the time Gaius runs through, then she could probably take on what they leave behind. I wonder if she saw what they did at the blood bath, if she knows their potential. But I don't protest, and before we know it they leave us.

We stay there, Winnow and I. We stay on our feet, standing and near tree's just in case somebody comes. Though I know that neither of us can really hide behind them, at least not Winnow anyway. Maybe I could, now that I don't have my dad's hat and if I stripped off my jacket. I take it in consideration ahead of time, just in case and strip from my jacket. I put it on a tree branch, and leave it there along with the bag at the base of the tree. I hope the muttation which stole my fathers hat earlier does not care to travel as far as the forest to steal from tributes. Winnow doesn't say anything, and I don't attempt to strike up conversation, it just doesn't occur to either of us. We're waiting, and that's all you can do.

Suddenly, I hear a branch break. In the distance I can see a form slowly shifting into a shadow of the haze.

"Hide, hide!" Winnow whispers at me, pushing me and I go behind the thickest tree in walking distance and avoid making noise in my step.

"Well look who it is, never figured I'd find you on scouting duty." It's the voice that belongs to Price, and I tense.

"Yup, you caught me." Winnow says, and I dare to hear a seductive, threatening tone to her voice.

Silence looms over as I hear another approaching footsteps. I glance from behind the tree, and for a second I see three figures. One belongs to Price, the other Winnow and then Amelia. I retreat and hide behind the tree once more, hoping I didn't catch any of their attention. I take a small breath and then hold in the next one, waiting for them to speak over the sound of my soft breathing, because I can't risk it.

"It's District nine girl, wheat right?" Amelia asks, a playful tone in her voice.

"Winnow." She replies blunt.

"Winnow." Price parrots, letting it roll off his tongue with a kind of cat like purr.

"Too bad we're gonna have to kill you, wheat girl." Amelia hisses, and I detect jealousy.

"Now now now, wait a second," Price pips in, and I imagine him holding her arm back from throwing a knife into Winnow's skull, "ever since you killed our bait to lure these pathetic kids out we don't have leverage."

Leverage, it's a word we've used as well. But somehow it seems foreign on a career's lips. What possibly could make them out of favor with chances of survival?

"We don't have time for this pointless flirting, let's just get it over with." Amelia hisses.

I hear movement, and then a gross noise. I peek out again, and Price has stabbed Amelia through the abdomen with his sword. She's bleeding out, and he just pulls it out of her like she was some sort of toy, letting her fall to the ground. I move back to my hiding place, trying to calm my breath and close my eyes. Winnow wasn't looking either, but she wasn't as frightened towards the entire situation as I was.

"Well damn," Price begins, and I can hear him kicking Amelia around, maybe just pushing her over onto her front I can't be sure, "look what you made me do."

"I hardly made you do anything." Winnow growls.

"What ever am I going to tell the others?" He muses.

She doesn't reply, and the leaves and dead grass cracks under his step as he approachs her. Then, I can't hear anything. I glance out from the side of the tree and the sight that greets me is almost as sickening to me as Amelia's death. They're kissing, hard and heavy. No restraint, and it's completely all bitter and vile. Nipping, biting, and then he pulls away with a hiss and I can see she's biting his lower lip. She doesn't let go for a while, but when she does he pushes her down. I move back, to avoid being seen and to see. I don't know if I can stomach much more of the claimed romance of the Hunger games.

"You'll be perfect bait, and then maybe some." Price purrs, and I can hear him picking her up. They are almost walking away until suddenly he stops. I wonder if he's spotted me, but I discover he hasn't. Not the physical me anyway, but when I look to my left I can see a sword at the tree that has the supplies. Fortunately he hasn't spotted my jacket. I watch as his sword slides through the fabric of the supplies bag, picking it up and then he's moving again. Moving to the direction of the Cornucopia with Winnow as his prisoner to bait me out and finish me off.

When I am alone, I move out from behind the tree and stumble towards Amelia's body. I manage to salvage a knife from her jacket, but that's all she had. Then, I jump as I hear a cannon go off in the distance. It's for her, I tell myself. Which is why Price isn't back here with his blade at my throat, or worse, in my chest. I go to put the knife in my own jacket before I remember having discarded it before Price and Amelia's arrival. I climb the tree to reach the branch I threw it up to earlier, and then climb down when I retrieve it. When I reach the ground I put it on, letting out a sigh as I wonder if I should wait. Then, before I can search for the others Karis runs into my vision and grabs me.

With no weapons.

"Where are the weapons?" I ask her.

"Where is Winnow?!" She asks me.

"They took her. Price, the district one boy, he killed Amelia and took Winnow." I tell her, and she knows it's true.

Because there is still a corpse on the ground right beside us. No doubt the hovercraft will be coming for it soon. Karis sighs, and nods as she grabs my arm and drags me off as we run through the forest. She's trying to get us as far as we can get from the corpse until another cannon stops us in our tracks. She trips, or jumps I can't tell, in shock. When she does so, we lose our footing and both go tumbling to the ground rolling through. I raise up as soon as I can, and move to her. I am kneeling over her and she's bleeding, because the knife I picked up from Amelia had slipped out of my jacket and stabbed her in the leg.

"Shit, no no no please!" I scream, in complete panic as she grabs the area around the wound and grips it.

She makes noises of pain, but not any louder than I do. I shake as I grab the handle of the knife and suddenly she's shaking her head and saying no. No, through her gritted teeth as she tries to bare the pain. I look between her face and the knife, I don't know what to do and she isn't helping. I try to calm myself, do what my father would tell me to do. Think, calm down and think. What would I do in a position like this? I remove my hand from the knife and pull off my jacket, putting it to the side just in case I need to cover the wound or stop the bleeding. I go back to the knife and again she's shaking her head.

"Don't move it!" Karis barks at me, and I suddenly feel heat going through my body, anger rising.

"Well then what the hell do I do?" I ask, voice louder than I intended and harsher as well.

She shakes her head. She doesn't know, but just don't do that. I look back to the knife. We don't have any medical equipment, I can't do anything but sit here and watch her bleed. Instead, I decide to do something I may regret. I grab the handle of the knife, putting a hand over her mouth as well. Then, I pull it out, and Karis screams into my hand, biting it which causes me to growl in pain and protest. I manage to get my hand out of her mouth, and she's whimpering like an animal in misery. I grab my jacket and wrap it around her leg, tying it tight and trying to add pressure to keep the blood it.

I look up and around me, wondering how somebody hasn't found us. Everywhere is a camera, it's a television show right? I lick my lips and breath quickly as I look from the wound back up around me.

"Please get medicine or something!" I growl up at nothing, and then suddenly there is a owl.

I stare at it, no not now. It opens it's mouth and without even thinking I lunge up and throw my knife at it. It's so quick that the Owl doesn't escape it, and I don't get to think about it. I move to the owl's corpse, ripping the knife out and returning to Karis. I hold her hand as she curses me and yells at me.

"I told you not to do it you idiot." She hisses, flinging her head back and arching her back as her leg bleeds more.

I can't stop shaking, trying to apply pressure to the wound with my free hand as she slowly bleeds. There isn't anything in this forest that could help and the Sponsors aren't doing their best either.

"Come on, come on, we can do this we'll get you a sponsor." I tell her, hope in my voice.

"This is all your fault, I'm going to die because of you." Karis responds.

I don't speak after that, instead just waiting. Just as I had anticipated, a small tin container flies down beside me. I grab it, letting go of Karis only for that and read the note attached. Kill her, -L. I rip it, put it away in my pants and open the tin container up. There is a knife.

_A knife._

"What is it?" Karis asks, still writhing in pain.

I can't respond, I just sit there with my mouth agape. Did they think it was some sick game? Of course they do, I tell myself. This is all it is to them. But they want me to end her suffering, and yet I can't do that. I look at her, "It's nothing. Just a weapon." I say.

"What? What for?!" Karis hisses.

"To go get medicine from the careers." I lie quickly, before I even know what I'm doing.

Karis looks at me, and then she nods. As if she understood her mentor would look out for her. But they didn't, they don't care about her anymore. I move my eyes and pull out the knife. I take the other knife too, and put the tin container beside her. "I'll be back, put pressure on your wound and stay alive you hear me?" I demand, and she nods. I put her hand on the wound, and she whines and pulls it away. I force it back over her wound, and put pressure on it for her. Her eyes tear up, and she looks away from me. I stand up and move away from her before bolting in the direction of the Cornucopia, I have to make these two knives count.

I reach the bushes, and then I can see the Cornucopia without being seen. Price and Winnow are the only two there. He has a sword at his side but it isn't at her throat. I see my bag of supplies and hope that Gaius left the medicine tube in there, hoping it will heal more than just poison. I slowly move forward. I can do this, I tell myself. I'm coming up behind them to their left and if I do it right, if Echo and Eta don't appear, I can make these count. I can fix everything, save Winnow and Karis. When I'm close enough, I stand.

I focus my aim, and then I throw. It hit's Prices' shoulder. My eyes go wide when he picks the sword up with his other hand, and he's after me. He's running straight at me. And I throw my last knife at him. It scraped his wrist enough to force him to let go of his sword, but he isn't done. He's still after me, running quickly and then we're on the ground. Price crashes into me and I feel all the air go out of me. I don't have time to think before we're wrestling on the ground, him trying to choke me or snap my neck. I manage to kick him between the legs, flip him over and rip the knife from his shoulder.

He screams in pain and before he can account anything else, before I can even, I'm stabbing him. I stab his neck, the center where the skin is exposed. Once, twice, three times before I move the knife. I stab his eye, and then his skull with no remorse. There is no pulse, he's not even moving. His body only twitches when I stab him, and that's probably only due to the force I put behind it. Then I'm lost, not even using my knife. I grab his head and slam it against the ground with the weapon still inserted. I don't stop until I can feel it dent, when I can feel the skull actually break under the weight of my anger and my pain. When I feel satisfied, I'm sweating and panting and I stand, pulling the knife out and bringing it with me. The world is spinning and I look up at the sky, the sky red like my victims blood as the sun sets. In the commotion of my thoughts, I finally slow myself down, and turn.

Winnow is standing in the distance, staring straight at me with horror in her eyes.


	11. A little revelation, Part one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Relief chapter, kind of you know to get the tension out and learn things.  
> If you are wondering about the death count currently ten are alive (I have edited.) Here is the list of all the tributes and who's dead, how they died and what chapter they died in.  
> DISTRICT 1  
> Price Cajole (!) [Chapter 10; Killed by Wade after being stabbed in the neck and brutally beaten to death.]  
> Sherry Renee'Blair (!) [Chapter 9; Bloodbath]  
> DISTRICT 2  
> Flint Ebenstone(!) [Chapter 9; Bloodbath]  
> Amelia Jamison (!) [Chapter 10; Stabbed through the stomach by Price.]  
> DISTRICT 3  
> Gaius Boolean  
> Nova Fabrizia (!) [Chapter 9; Bloodbath]  
> DISTRICT 4  
> Echo Allardyce  
> Eta Perthshire  
> DISTRICT 5  
> Watt Decatur (!) [Chapter 9; Bloodbath]  
> Persei Brites (!) [Chapter 9; Bloodbath]  
> DISTRICT 6  
> Crowell Levant  
> Hazel Ridgeway (!) [Chapter 9; Bloodbath]  
> DISTRICT 7  
> Leeto Bosworth  
> Karis Norrick  
> DISTRICT 8  
> Draper Argyle (!) [Chapter 9; Bloodbath]  
> Fern Wetherby  
> DISTRICT 9  
> Graham Millergan (!) [Chapter 9; Bloodbath]  
> Winnow Edenrhys  
> DISTRICT 10  
> Barth Rutherford (!) [Chapter 9; Bloodbath]  
> Damia Fenneland (!) [Chapter 9; Bloodbath]  
> DISTRICT 11  
> Jerzy Sladedell  
> Malva Thorncroft (!) [Chapter 10; The cannon that scared Karis and Wade into falling and resulted in a wounded Karis belonged to this tribute to signify her death.]  
> DISTRICT 12  
> Wade Galloway  
> Vibia Colesmith (!) [Chapter 9; Bloodbath, was stabbed in the back by Amelia, whom she had alliances with.]

When the world is still all is silent aside from the pounding in my chest. The loud rhythm of my heart beat against my chest and the sight of Winnow. We stand there, in the meadow of short grass by the Cornucopia. I hold the knife in my hands, and they are as still as they have been within this last week of events. The sun is finally going down, but the last of it's light is still slipping out and trying to escape from being pulled under and out of sight. I look at her, honest and hoping. Beautiful, even with the way she is looking at me. Anger is rising, but she's still traumatized by the kill. I am too, but in all the wrong ways. I finally allow myself to look away from her, who I have been focused on ever since I murdered Price in some sort of justified self defense that turned into something more disturbing than that.

His body remains on the ground, void of life. With as bad of damage I've dealt, I don't recognize him. I wouldn't know if I hadn't been the one who had done it all. On first appearance, it looks like he stumbled upon some wild muttation, but that wasn't the case. Though that way would have been much kinder to him. I look to Winnow and she has allowed herself to look at his slowly decomposing corpse. Though her eyes meet mine just like when I had finished the kill, and I feel another part of me die with how steady I return her gaze. I've killed her lover, and yet I can't bring myself to fabricate some sort of faulty emotion that would indicate my guilt. A guilt which I don't have, I scold myself.

"Winnow," I begin, watching as her eyes begin to panic. She isn't prepared to speak to me, not with how she is slowly backing up and going to retreat.

I follow her every step though, just like I did in the training arena. We hold eye contact, but I fear she's willing to break it on a moments notice and dart in the nearest direction. I could catch up with her though, I could find her. But then I remember Karis. Karis, she was the reason I had to kill Price to get to the supplies and find the medicine. Right now the blood that is pounding in my veins is the same color of the blood that is leaking out of hers. My thoughts stop still when I hear the cannon for Price go off. I look up at the sky which is now finally darkening to it's last cycle.

Winnow darts, I see from the corner of my eye. Instinct lunges me into motion as I follow her, but when she disappears in the bushes I force myself to stop. I have to save Karis, I don't have time to chase after Winnow with love sick eyes, not right now. I move back to the Cornucopia, quickly crossing the patch of grass that had separated me from my goal. When I reach it, I slow to a stop and look around. There is no supplies, they've been taken. I stare at the spot they were at, and then suddenly everything feels wrong. Where was the rest of the supplies the careers hid away? Everything was gone and then suddenly I begin to put it together. That muttation which stole my hat steals more than just articles of clothing. It steals whatever you need when you aren't looking. Pulls the rug straight out from under you.

I hear a chirping noise, and look around me to find where it is coming from. To my left, at the mouth of the Cornucopia farther in, is a tin container. It's a sponsor gift, I think to myself as I approach it eagerly. When I reach it, I put my knife in my pants pocket for safe keeping.

I kneel, ripping the note off and look at it, reading it silently.  _'Good show, keep it up_.' - **T**

It's from Trixie, and I stare at it for a while. They thought that was a show, but to me it was a jealous rage bottled up since the training area. It was a kill or be killed base instinct, and they thought it was some sort of game. I show pure disgust, ripping up the letter and throwing it to the side as I open the container. Inside is medicine, and my eyes go wide. I can save Karis with this, it's just enough.

I shut the container, picking it up and dart towards the direction I came. I run past the bushes, pushing them to the side easily and try to find my way back to where we were. When I find the area, I come to a slow. Karis isn't there, but there's a big area of blood where she should be. She could be anywhere, and I find myself spinning in circles. It occurs to me she's bleeding, like an animal wounded I could track her. I don't know much about tracking, but I'm a fast learner. I kneel to the spot, trying to find any that stray in a direction and keep consistent. There is one, and it's heading opposite of the Cornucopia. She must have heard the cannon and thought Price was going to come find her and finish her off.

I follow the blood splatters when I find them, they make uneasy trails and I assume she dragged herself for most of the way. When I reach the stream, I find her there. She is laying at it's side, eyes dull and distracted by nothing. Her leg isn't in the water, but by the way the water is a dyed red I can assume she had it in recently.

"Hey, hey Karis stay with me." I say, kneeling at her side with the container and sitting it on the ground as I retrieve its contents. I am delayed only by taking my jacket away from her leg, which I had put there earlier to put pressure onto the wound and restrain the bleeding.

I don't waste time with covering her wound with the gel like material, making it a sort of extension of the skin. When she looks at me and whimpers I assume it stings. I move away when I've used it all, having made sure to put a thick coat over the wound. I place the empty jar back into the container, and leave it there uncaring of what happens to it. I grab her hand and grip it tightly, but she just stares forward like she thinks she's better off dead. I wait with her there, frowning as I look around. I can't sleep, for many reasons. I don't know where Winnow is, Gaius could be dead, and there are still career tributes alive violent and vicious. If not both of them, then at least one of them. The count of the cannons indicate there are still a few of us left, enough to fight to the death.

They want to make it interesting I think as I watch the wound carefully. They want me to save her and then when it comes down to the two of us, see which one of our resolves weaken and who sacrifices their life first. I don't know what I'm capable of anymore, not after Price. I could die, but I fear it won't be at the hand of another tribute when my stomach growls and I understand that there is no food. I must have ignored it for a while, caught up in the heat of everything but now it's blatant. I manage to ignore it, I can survive a night without food, I know from personal experience. I find enough free time on my hands to clean my jacket at the stream just beside Karis, and when It is dry I throw it on. I then pull the knife out of my pocket, which I had placed when I had grabbed in the container. I pick up a twig and carve words into it, sharpening it's point and trying to stay aware of everything around me at the same time. 

When the sun appears up again, Karis is sitting up and I glance to the wound. It's healed, I let out a sigh of relief. Out of everything that seems to have fallen out of my favor, she is safe and fine one more day.

"You actually got the medicine." Karis says, looking up at me with a smile.

I nod, not telling her of the things I've done to get it. I can't bring myself to tell her that, I can't allow her to abandon me thinking of me as a monster like I let Winnow do.

Karis sits up and hugs me. I have enough time to open my arms wide to avoid the knife coming near her. Though I don't hug back, I appreciate the gesture of good will and comfort. When she pulls away, she looks at her leg and touches it. Whatever the medicine actually was called, it's worked. She isn't pulling away or writhing like an animal, she is perfectly fine.

We get up, and the only pain Karis admits to having is that on a psychological level. We agree on getting out of the forest, since there is nothing left here but corpses and bad memories. We need to find Winnow and Gaius she tells me. I wonder how she will react when Winnow tells her what I've done, and Gaius too if we ever find them. The two of us go out of the forest, careful as we walk down the hill to avoid tripping and rolling down it. We watch out for other tributes, because there are a count of ten of us if I remember correctly. I can't be too sure though, I haven't been keeping close eye on the tributes.

"We should go to the beach, camp out there." She suggests.

"I can't swim." I reply, fearful of even being near the water.

Apparantly my statement does not earn my any sympathy. Karis is already walking ahead of me through the high grass and heading to the beach. I find myself following, keeping the knife in my hand. When we get there, much to my surprise, there are already others camped out. Karis kneels in the high grass, forcing me down and the last time I was in this position I was being stolen from. She puts a hand over my mouth to avoid me from speaking, even though I wouldn't think of speaking in the presence of threatening tributes. We're focused, and she seems to be determining who belongs to what district.

One of them is dark skinned, a boy. He must be from District eleven, though I don't know his name and currently I can't ask Karis with her hand over my mouth. A girl is there too, but they are spaced out. I wonder if they made a silent agreement to avoid each other unless it came down to it. I glance to Karis, who seems concentrated on seeing if they will be a threat. Neither of them have their faces towards us, only their backs. They are at the water, trying to get fish and get something to eat with some small net. I bet they got it from the Cornucopia, but neither of them really are from the right district to know how to use it.

"Catch anything?" The boy asks.

"No." The girl replies, quick and simple.

They don't talk much, but they do talk to each other. They have a temporary alliance, I can tell by the way the girl keeps it distant and the boy tries to enjoy what is going to be left of their time. Karis looks at me, and I glance from them to her not sure what she wants. She makes a movement for my knife, and then makes this sort of throwing gesture with her hand. When that's done, she points at them. Karis want's me to take them out, throw my knife. Problem is, I only have one. The other I forgot to pick up after killing Price, and even if we went back for it by now I think we would find it missing just like my supplies were. I shake my head, pulling out my only knife and making a number one with my index finger as I point at it, and then a number two when I point towards them. If I hit the boy, he wouldn't go down. He looks big and burly like Price was, but not violent unless he needs to be. Still deadly.

Suddenly I hear a scream.

Karis and I perk up, and the two of them are running away from the beach. They manage to avoid us, but our attentions are caught by the harpoon which has been planted into the beach's sand. Eta and Echo, I dread to think, have arrived. They come out of where they were hiding, which I discover was similar to us but farther down the beach's border. They don't see us, not with how they act. They saunter onto the beach and grab the net and harpoon. Eta has the harpoon, Echo has the net. Both of them have discarded their pants, jacket and boots, leaving only the water suit to cover them. They intend to stay. Though the main discouraging point is that they now wield two weapons, both which can be used in different ways.

I look to Karis but she's making retreat signs. We can't be here, not now that this is their territory. We aren't ready to face careers, even if there are only two of them. I don't have enough knives to throw and Karis has no weapons at all. I never focused on her in the training center, but I doubt she is a lethal opponent when she has no weapons at hand. So we take off, not waiting for them to find us in the grass. We take a whole new direction, towards the Sandpit. I notice the boy from eleven and the girl are going the direction of the swamp, and I hope they decide to save themselves the pain and just head back into the forest. Winnow and Gaius are still in the forest though, that or they are hiding out in the meadows on the other side of the Arena.

We get far enough from the beach that we can finally stand straight and walk like normal humans instead of crawling around in the grass. Though we come to another stop when Karis holds up a hand and points.

I can see her district partner, the one I recognize from the interviews. He's shaking and twitching, bags under his eyes and a wood carved knife in his hand. His eyes are focused and determined forward, and he's going straight for the Sand pit. We kneel when he gets closer, and I watch him pass us. He must be going after the muttation that stole my hat, I think. Though I wonder if he knows, panting and grinning behind him is the muttation, following in his foot steps on it's hind legs. Karis makes a disturbed face, and I find it very odd as well.

"Leeto behind you!" Karis screams, but nothing happens.

Leeto, her district partner, just keeps on going forward. The muttation does not stop either, as if they're stuck in some sort of other world where they can't hear us. Karis jumps up, but before she can go grab him I have her hand in mine and I pull her back. I shake my head, it's not worth it. He's so out of it that saving him would probably bring him down further than he already is. Besides, even if she did save him now, he would still eventually die later.

We keep moving after that, eventually stopping to sit in the meadow, pushing down the tall grass to make a small patch for us to sit. I watch Karis as she just stares at the ground, no doubt haunted by my refusal to allow her to save her tribute partner.

"He had insomnia, could never sleep." Karis tells me.

I listen, appreciating as she continues to tell me about Leeto. She was so attentive to everyone, and I understand how much of a threat she is to me. Though in another life, in a different position, I may have trusted Karis and even dared to call her my friend. Sadly, we aren't in that position or world to allow me such a luxury. Though I don't focus on the details she runs through, I know the basics of her partner. He was paranoid, not as much as he is now. Could have won, with his insomnia if he instigated it right. But none of that matters anymore, because as we sit there we hear a cannon go off. Neither of us are surprised, not really, but we both jump. I think we both know who it belongs to, so after that we stay quiet for a few moments. I know how it is to lose a partner, but Karis seems stiff and cold about it, almost as if she doesn't want to admit he's gone.

"We have to find Gaius and Winnow." I finally speak after minutes of silence.

"Okay." She replies.

For once we don't disagree or fight, just stand. We go in the direction of the forest because that was where we last saw them both and neither of them have emerged from it while we were out here thus far. Though on our way we stop, and I can see Gaius emerging from the left side of the hill no doubt leaving the forest or circling it to find us. It doesn't even take him a second to see us, but we aren't hiding from him. He approaches us quickly, panting when he gets there and I wonder how long he's been running. Sweat is dripping down his forehead and he looks angry.

"There wasn't any weapons." He tells us.

"I know." Karis replies, soft and steady like a mother would to her child.

"What happened?" I ask Gaius.

"Weapons were gone, not even supplies were in sight of the Cornucopia. Eta and Echo were sitting there alone, so I went with the plan. They chased after me and didn't stop. Until two cannons went off."

I think about how one of those cannons was Price, the boy I had butchered. Though when Gaius continues, he doesn't mention ever seeing any bodies and thought that Winnow and I had been killed. He doesn't tell us anymore than that and I feel like he's hiding some part of the story. I don't push forward for anything else, because we still have to find Winnow.

"Where is Winnow?" He asks finally.

Karis doesn't answer, just looks at me and waits for me to explain. I don't want to really go over it again, and I want to do my best to avoid telling them that I've turned out to be a ruthless killer. Instead I try to keep it simple. "She was taken by the career scouting party. It was Price and Amelia, but when Amelia tried to kill Winnow there Price was, stabbing her through and through. Price took Winnow, haven't seen them since."

The last part is a lie, but I don't want to admit what I already know is true. I can't be stranded on this island alone with kids who have the simple goal of killing each other. Just because I killed Price, doesn't mean I could be in the moment like that and kill somebody else. I don't even think I could raise a knife to a person again, not with the regret that strings through me. The worst part for me, is that I don't remember the look on Price's face when I killed him.

But I remember the look on Winnow's face.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> http://8tracks.com/seawater/25th-annual-hunger-games  
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^  
> My friend made a soundtrack for the "25th" annual-hunger games but you know its secretly for this fic nghgngh  
> http://8tracks.com/seawater/no-good-for-me  
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^  
> Also since Price just died I'm going to insert a soundtrack (made by my lovely friend sea again,) of the Price and Winnow ship if you want to look at that mhhm we're all getting productive here.


	12. A little revelation, Part two.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Final part to a little revelation.
> 
> So these two chapters are kinda short for the Arena chapters I usually do so I'm sorry. I actually had a tough time writing these chapters though because during the first one I wanted to orphan my work off or just delete it completely. And in this chapter I'm actually having a harder time because I just saw the preview for the Great Gatsby and I really want to watch it and do a historical fiction period piece story and I mean like Elizabeth Taylor and Marilyn Monroe class not the Hunger Games. Though I will finish this before I start any other stories, and the end is coming soon. Plus school started so yeah all my motivation went out the door like poof damn.
> 
> Also great debate on if I should actually continue the story after the Arena farther than just the victor crowning. I'm not sure what real use it would be though. So enjoy while you have it.

We haven't stopped walking for quite some time. No rest, no food and no drink until we've found Winnow or hear a cannon. I scoff at the second rule, because they have no food to deny me of. Though the water is everywhere, in a mocking way. We go through the forest, even through the Cornucopia and the meadow around it, but every time we turn a corner I find a stream which seems untouched. I've lost count on who is alive and who isn't, but I feel like unless somebody dies and quick, the game makers are going to start forcing their hand in the matter. We haven't been doing anything but walking in circles, so I'm sure the first targets will be us. We only derail the entire point of the games with this alliance. We barely kill others, and obviously until the career tributes are struck out we won't kill each other. 

The first time we do rest that afternoon, we do so by the stream. I drink, because it's something I'm going to take advantage of as long as they let me. When I'm done, I sit on a rock beside the other two. Gaius keeps eyeing me like he knows what I've done and just continuously waits for me to confess my guilt, but I always pretend to be clueless of his glares. Karis hasn't spoken much, not since her tribute partner had died and then we found Gaius. To my surprise, we still have no luck in even tracking down Winnow, despite the fact both Karis and Gaius seem to have extensive knowledge about almost everything involving the games.

"We've been walking around the forest all afternoon, she isn't here." I say.

"Your point?" Gaius mumbles as he sends me another glare.

"I'm saying we shouldn't be here. She isn't here and we shouldn't waste our time. We should just get it over with ourselves." I explain.

Gaius laughs, "What do you expect us to do then? Go out on the beach in the open on our own, just the three of us, and try to jump two career tributes who have a harpoon and a net?" 

I say nothing after that. We explained to him what we saw before we found him, and honestly I kind of regret it. Though he is right, a harpoon is longer than a knife, and they probably have more steady aim and quicker throw than me. Plus, Gaius is a trapper, meaning unless we convince Eta and Echo away from the beach into a place where you could easily hide a trap, then there is probably no way he'd be able to help us much. Though I also think he's putting it off. There are three of us, and I'm sure if we caught them at their weakest we would be able to pin them down and end it already. I glance to the ground and frown at myself. When did I become so eager to get the hunger games over with? I remember wanting to delay as long as I could earlier this week, and then hoping luck would be on my side for a year before this one. 

"What if Winnow isn't alive?" I ask.

Karis and Gaius look to each other, observing each other as if wondering what they would do. Karis is the first one to break eye contact, looking to me when she's figured out what she think she would do if we failed to find Winnow alive.

"We either take out the career tributes and die trying, or split up and hope to god we don't bump into each other again." She replies steadily.

I squint at her, observing her and wondering how serious she is about that. I am not quite sure Karis has every killed anyone, but I can't remember. The bloodbath was quick and violent, too many faces passed and too many more bodies hit the ground. Gaius wasn't there, but I wouldn't doubt him to be fast and ready if somebody tried to kill him. Though for the benefit of the doubt, I'll just assume everyone here currently has killed somebody or witnessed an event of the same category. Karis stands up, and we both look up at her. We don't get up, mainly because it feels like we just sat down. "Come on, we won't find her at this rate." Karis says.

So we stand, even though I know that I don't want to. We continue to walk through the forest. It angers me that they are practically setting us up to die. We haven't gone anywhere and I'm sure that at this rate we're digging our own graves. Though the expression is lost on me when suddenly Gaius stops. We stop as well, hoping he heard something or found something. But he just stares forward, as if in thought and debating a great matter with himself. I would love for him to indulge us in this discussion, but he seems to fixed on himself. Then, he speaks.

"I'm leaving." He says.

We stare at him in confusion. I don't really understand what he means. Does this mean he's going to just fall over and die now? Or will he humor us and walk away to do that? I'm of course in a jumbled mess until he cares to explain his statement further. "I'm breaking from the alliance. I can't run in circles when I could be out there winning," He tells us. 

I prevent myself from snorting, though I am tempted to do so. I know that Gaius is smart, but I am sure the boy from district eleven could snap his neck within a matter of minutes if they caught sight of each other. I don't underestimate Gaius, but he isn't that impressive in appearance or strength. Most of his matter lies in his mind, his traps and his wire. I then wonder if Karis is going to pry the wire from his dead cold fingers with the way she looks at him after his announcement. Then, her eyes soften and I imagine she will give him pity and allow him to take the wire. Our wire, I think to my self. The wire that belongs to Winnow and I, the one she should be holding close as a weapon. 

"Okay." Karis says, and then she's walking again.

I am stuck between Karis and Gaius. I am not sure who to follow, though by the Gaius glares at me I know that I have no invitation from him. Then, I turn and catch up to Karis as we walk forward. I look back a few times, until I can no longer see him. I look back at Karis then, and she hasn't faltered in her step like I would have. Her mind must be too focused forward, but she's too stubborn. We're going in all the wrong ways, and if we don't get out of the forest I'm sure the next round we take around it will be our last no thanks to our breaking with Gaius. 

"We have to get out of the forest, she isn't here." I demand.

Karis stops, and I do too. She looks at me with a dead gaze, one that says she's tired of me. We're tired of each other. Saving her life has not put me any higher in her favor, because I'm still me and we still don't agree. We practically never agree, but without Gaius backing one of us up I'm afraid she'll try to choke me. "Run on out of the forest then, little soldier boy. Go before I kill you." She says.

I stare at her for a long moment before I understand she is completely serious. The way she looks at me, it's like she has no soul and she's hungry for mine. Standing tall I push past her and walk away, following the stream that will lead me to the edge of the forest. Karis is giving me a head start, but she won't come after me. Not yet anyway. She would deal with Gaius before she tries to kill me. Though I wouldn't doubt that in my wake I could have a harpoon, wire, or anything Karis could salvage at my throat. Exhaustion doesn't suit me though, and right now I'm dragging my feet with what energy I have left. When I'm at the edge of the forest I lay down against a tree, which will block anyone from seeing me either way; the curtain of fog and tree as my covers.  

When I've made myself comfortable and hid my knife safely in my pockets, I close my eyes and let myself drift off. 

I'm snapped awake by Gaius, who is showing absolutely no mercy to me. He has pushed me to the ground and is on top of me, pinning me down with a wire at my throat. I'm already beginning to lose oxygen, and I wonder how long I've been out for this. I try to kick him, but he's positioned himself so even my writhing wouldn't be able to prevent him from killing me. My arms push at him, but he doesn't even budge. He's like a marble statue, frozen in his place. He pulls back on the wire enough so I can regain some oxygen, but just enough. His intention isn't to kill me, at least not yet.

"I saw you kill Price." He confirms to me, and I feel panic rise in my stomach. 

I would have assumed he saw; probably peering from the bushes surrounding the Cornucopia. He may have had something to do with moving Karis too, but I don't think he would have had much time to bother. Though as I try to wiggle free, I can't help but wonder if he caught Winnow when she ran away. If he dared to try and kill her. No, there was no cannon, so she isn't dead. Unless she's hidden out somewhere and bleeding out because of him, there is no way she could be deceased or on her way.

"You know, I knew you were gonna be a challenge in the arena but I never cared to admit what extent that could lead to." Gaius speaks. 

I glare at him, hitting his elbows or anywhere to cause his arms for even just a moment to cease their strain on my throat. Well, to cease their grip on the wire, rather, that strains my throat. I can't talk, so I wonder why he keeps pausing. He looks like he is thinking back, remembering. I wonder if he gets some sick joy out of the kill, dragging it out. But no, I don't think he's that type. He's just smart and he wants to boast it. He wants to be recognized for his amazing talents. I'll make sure to give him a medal when I hang him from a tree with this same wire. 

"So when we all split up I had to follow you and take you out. I can't have you in the finale against me, the spots reserved." He tells me.

Reserved for Karis, I assume. They are equals in the opposite of ways. His wits against her strength and its a match to be admired. Though I wonder if he really wants to kill her, or if he is referring to somebody else. I crunch my face up in disgust at him, and then spit in his face. He pulls away, distracted long enough for me to take out my knife and lodge it into his abdomen. Gaius' eyes widen and he looks down at me like he's surprised and offended. He must have assumed Karis had the knife. The pressure of the wire against my neck is loose now, and I twist the blade in Gaius' stomach for good measure. 

He hovers over me, and suddenly bloods coming out of his mouth and it's dripping on my face. He is silently choking when I force him up, over and off of me. His body falls to the ground, wire still in his grip. I lay there beside his corpse, panting in recovery from the lack of oxygen I had received during his speech and the exertion I had to use to gut him. When I look to my side he's staring right at me, but he isn't breathing anymore. His eyes are dead, and his mouth is slightly agape with blood around it. I turn my head to look back at the branches of the tree and close my eyes, allowing myself a moment to recollect everything. When I do open my eyes, I force myself to sit up and move to his corpse. Gaius could have killed me and won the games against anyone else, even me if he had known that I had the knife. It was an oversight, I don't blame him for his mishap. I try not to think about what could have happened had he accounted for the knife when I remove my blade from his stomach. Some pieces of his insides roll out with my blade, and I make a pained noise.

I see the wire in his hand, and I grab it from his ice cold grip.

"I knew we shouldn't have given you the wire." I growl.

I stand from the body, putting the knife and wire in my pockets. This would have been a glorious victory for me, if I had killed another career instead of one of my own previous allies. The cannon sounds in the air for him, and I look down at him. I then force myself forward and out of the haze that surrounds the forest, down the hill and remain there. I have no idea where I am going, but I can't remain there when the hovercraft or Karis get a hold of his body, especially that of the former. I bring my hand to my face, trying to remove his blood off of my face. Instead, I manage to smear it on my hand and cheek. 

I then continue forward, into the meadow of long grass and keeping a watch for any tributes or muttations. 

When I near the beach, I see Winnow's figure. My eyes widen and I feel the urge to run for her, embrace her and have her soothe me and tell me all is well. Though I kneel when I notice that with her is Eta. They are glaring at each other, and I wonder if they are going to fight to the death. Winnow is unarmed, but Eta still wields the bloody harpoon from the start of the games. If Eta even brings her arm back with the intent to throw that harpoon, I will have my knife good and ready to throw at her. Echo isn't around, but he is near. Career tributes never work alone unless she killed him off. Without hearing a cannon in his honor, I find that unlikely. They come to some agreement, because they focus their attention on something else.

In the water, something emerges and jumps at them, teeth sharp and long. Eyes large and black, ears replaced by fins that belong to a fish and down the neck gills. It resembles a woman, only in shape and guise I think to myself. It's claws are long and black and it's reaching out for Winnow. Eta lifts the harpoon and I am gripping my knife within my jacket pocket. As the creature is only an inch from digging it's claws into her leg, Eta runs her weapon straight through it's head. Blood, black blood gushes from the creatures wound. It's arms fall and it's eyes twitch. Eta pulls out the harpoon but replaces it quickly, and I can see why. For the moment Eta had pulled out her weapon it was moving again, though this time Winnow had taken a step back away from it. In the water I can see a fin slamming against the waves until suddenly it is silent. 

I move closer, until I can hear them clearly.

"One meal, and then you get a thirty second head start before I gut you too." Eta hisses at Winnow. 

"Without a knife I'd love to see you do that." Winnow retorts, more calm than the other.

I take my chance to make an entrance, standing up and approaching them. They both see me, but neither move because I stop a considerable distance away from both of them. Eta's hand grips the harpoon tightly, her knuckles turning white. Winnow stares with some emotion I can't place and mouth slowly opening to say something; but she doesn't. Maybe it's the blood on my face that has intimidated them both, but the only thing I could focus on was the word meal and knife.

"I have a knife." I tell them.


	13. Only skin deep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AvanduDivagen wrote the point of view from the character Echo and will be going on to continue the story. The link to that story is here >> http://archiveofourown.org/works/943483
> 
> There will be three different character Point of views that you'll be able to read from soon enough aside from Wade's. Those three are Gaius, Winnow and Echo. I will put a link up when each of those stories start, but for the mean time only Echo's POV story has started and we're over here trying to wrap up.
> 
> Maybe at a later point in time we will write the POV for some of the other characters that aren't very popular or don't have names to Wade in this story.

Eta's eyebrows raise in amusement at my statement, and they both agree to allow me in on their meal. 

The two of them drag the creature out farther away from the beach, and I discover it is because the others will climb up and take it away otherwise. I kneel by it, and begin digging my blade at the hip bone where the fish part of it's body ceases. It is much easier to dig through the skin with this knife, this one that I received from the sponsors. Though when bone appears, I try to cut around it. I manage to discover that I can, and when the two pull the two body parts away from each other, most of the bone in the fish tail comes out. Though to all our disgust and misfortune, so does some of the meat. 

Eta plucks the tail of it's scales, one by one and it takes some time. Though after she finishes, we move to the cliff. There already is a camp fire made out of sticks and stones. Winnow seems to avert her attentions anywhere except for towards me, but I am too focused on cutting the tail and preparing the meat with the help of Eta. She is much more productive about the entire situation than I am, and it is no surprise. Both Eta and Echo come from district four, the fishing district. 

Soon enough after it is edible, which Eta announces, Echo arrives. Then, we eat.

We still sit at the cliff when we finish, and on observation, it is almost higher than the forest. The lower half of the creature, which I discover is a muttation during our meal, was all edible fish. The last of it hangs over the fire, as we've already eaten most of it. Echo and Eta sit opposite of me, and Winnow to my far left. She is closer to them than me, but I can't focus on that. My attention is over the edge of the cliff, down below where the water meets sharp rocks. Half women, half fish muttations wait there singing songs and trying to seduce us all over the edge to meet our demise.

A word hangs on the edge of my tongue as I look down at the creatures. Mermaid. They aren't what the stories describe them as, but they are a deadly twist to the games. Echo had woven a basket out of whatever he could find, and in it holds water. They claim it's from the forest, rather than the sea. When I questioned them earlier why they would go back all the way to the forest for water, they replied that the water at the beach was only as good as the person drinking it. Apparently it causes one to lose morals and their mind along with it. If it is true, then I am lost, and they should throw me to the dogs. 

"Eight left, and the sun is down again." Eta speaks, looking towards the horizon.

The sun hangs over it, tempted to sink under but not quite let allowing itself to go. I am looking towards it for comfort, because soon I know another will be dead. The Capitol citizens will become impatient, this game is taking it's time and the course is always the same. There has been no cannons since Gaius, no gifts from sponsors or anything. Echo and Eta are growing restless for the end, and as career tributes I can imagine to just what depth that actually goes. I wonder to Karis, the other pair that were driven from the beach and who ever else is still breathing. I can only imagine what they are doing.

"Tributes. At the Cornucopia, is a feast. There are a full supply of weapons. There, you will find a weapon that you are skilled with that is limited edition and special made just for you. Whether you need to kill or protect yourself, they are there. You must get them before the sun comes back up, because they will be gone by the morning unless they are in your hands."

We all perk up at this, and my heart beats quickly. Weapons, made just for the surviving tributes. I know Karis is skirting around the forest, so she will be at the Cornucopia first. If she gets her hand on an axe, we will all most likely be at the edge of it's blade. A knife is well, but many would higher my chances. Winnow and the other two glance between us all. Neither Echo nor Eta are in need of a weapon, but the blood thirst in their eyes are clear. It is an opportunity to take out the competition and kill the remaining factors. Winnow looks worried, and I am not sure because she sits in a pack of killers or because she knows something I do not.

"We go to the forest together," I suggest, "then we split up there and find our own ways to the Cornucopia." 

Eta smiles at me, one that discourages me. She glances to Echo, who is taking my suggestion much more seriously. The two agree, though Eta more reluctantly than Echo. I look at him, and when he looks at me I understand why he agreed. He can't risk killing us now, because I'm close enough to throw a knife into Eta's heart in the same time she gets her harpoon to mine. Winnow remains silent about it, but when we get up she follows. We head down the cliff, through the meadow and into the forest. Everything is dark, as should be expected with the sun down, but everything in the forest is much darker. It is hard to navigate through it, though as planned Eta and Echo break from the party and take another way to get to the Cornucopia.

I turn to Winnow, and we stand among the trees like we did once before. Though this time, there is no Price to bother us or Amelia to threaten our lives. It is us just us, alone in the forest for now. I look at her, and she seems to furrow her eyebrows when we don't move. We're wasting time, her look tells me. Time we don't have. "Winnow, I want to apologize." I say.

"Then do it," She replies, "but if you expect me to forgive you for killing somebody then you can count me out."

I clench my jaw, staring at her. We've never been like this, and I wish suddenly Karis was in her place. This would be easier for me to cope with, to say. Though it is her, Winnow and all her beauty. We sit out in the middle of the forest like sheep waiting for the slaughter but I still can't stop myself from loving her.

"I had to." I manage to say. 

Winnow shakes her head slowly, and I know she doesn't believe me. Or maybe she's telling me I didn't. That she would have or that Price was on our side the entire time. Though our actions all said differently at the time, and I can still not convince myself of any of it even now. "I thought you were better than that, Wade." She says.

I am suddenly confused. I thought she was angry at me for killing the one she loved, even if he didn't return the feelings quite the same way. But she says she thought I was better than that. Better than what? Was I supposed to die a martyr, clean and innocent with only blood that belongs to myself staining my hands? I then think to how I must look, with blood still covering over me from Gaius. It occurs to me that she knows, that whether it was Karis or Gaius it was by my hand. "What do you mean?" I ask.

"I thought you could win without killing anyone, show the people out there who you really are." Winnow explains.

She put too much hope into me, and I have failed her without knowing of her expectations. I blink, only then understanding tears were in my eyes as my fists were clenched at my sides. I take in a breath, to steady myself and avoid myself from shaking. Win without killing anyone, I know that would not happen. That was my partners plan, and she did not even survive the bloodbath. There is no pity for anyone in the games, anyone and everyone is a target for another. I lower my eyes, thinking about this. When I look up to Winnow she's waiting for me. To say something, I imagine. I can't think of anything though, because I can't remember the person she paints me out to be. 

"We have to go before some one finds us." I say, my voice cracking as I say the words.

Winnow only nods, and then we are off again. We walk through the forest, careful of our step. I stumble many times, but aside from a gentle touch on my arm, she does nothing to keep me standing straight. When we reach the edge of the forest that leads to the meadow and then the Cornucopia, I stay in the bushes and watch to see who is already there and who is not, keeping Winnow at my side. When I do look, the sight that greets me is disgusting. There, Karis hovers over a body, one which belongs to the district eleven tribute that had camped at the beach before Eta and Echo. The girl he was with is no where to be seen. She holds in her hand an axe, and no longer is she wearing her jacket. Her hair is down and pushed back, flowing over her shoulders as she looks at them with a hunger in her eyes. 

One cannons go off, and Winnow beside me jumps. We're too far to draw attention because of the action though, so we remain still and watching. I try to estimate from here if I could run in and get the throwing knives, which are planted behind a stack of golden harpoons. It then occurs to me all the weapons are golden, all aside from Karis' which is now painted red from the blood of her victims. I see Echo run through, grab a harpoon and run out. Karis won't let him go though, because she's running after him quickly. I don't know of the plan Eta and Echo have, but I hope it works in their favor as well as it is going to work in ours.

"Stay here." I command to Winnow, before I stand up and run.

I run as quickly as I can to my goal, pushing my legs forward and taking quick breaths. When I reach the Cornucopia, I come to a slow and grab the throwing knives that are placed in a belt that comes with them. I quickly do it up, managing to put it on but when I turn, somebody is there. A boy, and he is right in my face when I turn around. There is barely any space between us, and he's armed. He brings up the steel pole, and I know then he plans to bludgeon me to death. I quickly kneel when he swings, and it is the only thing that saves me from taking a blow to the head. 

I grab my knife and stab his leg, and in response he slams the steel at the side of my head. I fall down, my vision suddenly blurred and I am bleeding from my mouth. My ears are ringing and the only thing I hear is him screaming out in pain as he removes my knife from his leg. Somehow, I manage to force myself to crawl, and I'm trying to do so as quick as I can to get away from the tribute who threatens my life.

When I am out of the mouth of the Cornucopia he is already after me, flipping me onto my back with a sadistic smile. He raises the steel and before he can slam it into my head somebody has stuck a sword through him. Blood squirts out as his weapon falls to his side, his hands moving to the metal currently implanted through his body. He moves, as if trying to breath and speak at the same time before he falls to the side. Behind him, panting and nearly frozen in her place is Winnow.

I smile to her, in the best I can manage for now. She pulls me up and salvages a golden sickle from the Cornucopia, leaving the sword in the boy. Winnow is reluctant, avoiding the blood the best she can and trying not to look at the deceased male. When she has the weapon in her hand she uses her other hand to lead me out of the meadow and back into the forest. We hear the cannon in his favor go off, but after that there are no others. She sits me down somewhere in the forest and there is no stream by us this time to wash away the blood, fresh or old, that is on my hands and face.

"Oh my god." Winnow whispers, and she's moving my head from left to right and I wonder what's the matter. 

I know I am bleeding from my mouth, by the wet liquid feeling that pours over my lips and down my chin. The taste of copper is distinct in my mouth as well, but she does not seem interested in that. Winnow pulls away for a moment, looking down and recollecting herself before she goes back to observing my damage. "What is it?" I ask, removing myself from her grasp. I take off my jacket and begin to clean my mouth and face of the new blood that is there.

"I think- I think you have a concussion. You are bleeding from your ears." She says.

The first part is more than likely a fact, rather than an assumption. With how hard he hit me in the head, it was sure to cause some mental damage. Though at least I am not dead, that can be something to celebrate for. I throw my jacket to the side, and look down to the belt of knives. It hangs loosely to my hips, and I lost a knife from the collection thanks to my attacker. My hands go down to the belt buckle and I adjust it so that it is a tight fit and wont slip off at any given moment. When I look up I meet the eyes of Winnow, who is worried and frowning. I smile to her, keeping my mouth closed so I don't repulse her with the sight of my bloody teeth. 

"What are you smiling about?" She asks, serious tone and all.

"You. You saved me." I say. 

Winnow remains silent, narrowing her eyes to the ground. I watch her attentively, not able to draw my eyes away from her. She may not have even had a real chance to think about whether she wanted to save me or not, but she did it anyway. It could have been her own revenge, watching me being beaten into the ground by some stranger in place of Price.

"Karis is alive." She tells me.

"I know." I reply, and I do.

What we saw wasn't Karis though. It was what was left of her. The cannon didn't indicate her death either, so I assume she is still alive. My thoughts are interrupted when we hear another cannon, almost on cue. It is for some one, Karis even perhaps. Though it could easily be for Echo or Eta as well. Winnow and I look at each other, our stare lingering as we try to answer the question between ourselves. Who was the cannon sounded for? Neither of us can be sure, but no matter who has fallen there is still an enemy in the forest, searching for us. 

We stand, and I hold onto her hand as we walk. She does not pull away, but her grip is weak and I feel that she doesn't want to be in this position. In her other hand, Winnnow holds her golden sickle. She is steady with it, and I think about the district she comes from. Wheat, a district that would of course hold a sickle as an every day tool. Knives were never my favor, pick axes were and they were my districts main tool. Though I learned to use knives, just like Winnow had managed to use a sword to kill that boy at the Feast.

The feast, a way to draw us out and get each other together to kill each other. Brighten the games up, make more entertainment for the crowd.

There are five of us left, and I understand that the end is near. It is the final five, and between us there must be a victor. I hope that Eta, Echo and Karis will do the favor for us of killing themselves, though it is unlikely. If I could get it down to Winnow and I, then she would go home and be with her family once more. I lower my eyes to the ground as we walk, thinking of another life where we could both go home victors together, marry and live together. Though even in that life I fear she would not love me the way I do her. The love she holds for me would only be skin deep.

"They are going to kill us if we don't kill them." I suddenly say.

Winnow stops, and I do the same. She looks back at me, frowning. She doesn't speak to deny my statement, because it is true. That, or they will kill each other and who ever comes out on top of that battle will arrive at us with weapons and a plan. They'll slaughter us before we could even think about finding them.

"We should get out of the forest, this is Karis' playground, and If she is still alive she'll be after us." I tell her.

The beach is no safer though, because the muttations there are just as threatening as the tributes. If Eta or Echo survived, if the cannon wasn't for them, then the beach will be their territory just like the forest is Karis'. It is familiar to them, just as much as the forest is. Either way, we are at a disadvantage. Winnow slowly nods, and we trail out of the forest the best we can. When we emerge from the curtain and slowly go down the hill, there is the sun rising. I make a noise  of pain, suddenly sensitive of the light. Winnow looks to me with a sympathetic glance, before guiding me forward. 

We reach the meadow, walk through it but find ourselves stopping at the sight before us. Echo is standing on the cliff, at the very edge. I look between Winnow and him with confusion, but we are not close enough to ask. Even if we were, I would not think of approaching him. Eta is no where to be seen, and I suddenly wonder where she has gone. Then, I begin to understand.

When Echo goes over the cliff, I know what is going on. Winnow just averts her gaze, turns her back to the scene. We can not see his corpse from here, but we may as well have. He has committed suicide, the first I've seen happen in this game. The mystery is solved when I reach out and grab Winnow's hand. I grip it, and she squeezes mine lightly to assure me of something. Maybe that she will be fine, that she has seen worse. Though I do not know what could be worse than losing the one you love in the games. To be driven to a point that you decide to sacrifice yourself because of it.

Because the cannon which had went off earlier while we were inside of the forest, was for Eta. 


	14. The Storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ba dum tsh.

The sun which had been on it's rise has stopped. It has come to a complete stop, and behind it I can imagine men plotting. It is slowly going back down, the last of its light being consumed by the ocean. In the sky clouds crowd over head, and they are dark. Rain, small drops begin to fall upon us as we look up and watch. In the sky a long, white rip appears for a second and flashes, following it is the crackling thunder which will echo through my ears a round of times. I squint against the persistent falling water, watching as behind the clouds lights flicker on and off like light switches.

"A storm?" Winnow mutters.

The loud crack of a whip from the sky and another white streak is her only reply. I lower my eyes to the ground and see the water slowly rising past the beach. My bright blue eyes widen as I grab her arm, before looking down at my own when I notice something. There on my exposed arm, is my hair rising. Before I can speak I rip through the meadow in a run, pulling along behind me Winnow. Lightning strikes where we once stood, and the meadow begins to light itself on fire. I do not stop, the smell of smoke at my back and the hill in my day. We go up the hill, though I trip and roll back down. Winnow stands at the top, staring down at me.

The crackle of fire at my side reminds me of the danger I am in by laying here. I force myself up, up the hill as quick as I can manage without losing my balance. I run past Winnow, but she follows close behind. We break through the curtain and continue. The rain does little help here, as it has went into a slumber and refuses to extinguish the flames that follow us. The curtain only beckons the fire, and before we know it most of the forest behind us is catching fire. My heart beats against my chest and my veins pump as we run through, though Winnow slows me down comparably. 

We try to circle around the Forest, but suddenly a light flash slams down in front of us and we are halting to a stop. Drumming sounds of thunder resonate through the sky of the Arena. I glance back at the fire that is consuming everything behind us, and then understand what is happening. They are directing us towards the Cornucopia, the center, the finale. With my own hand, I grab Winnow and take off towards the Cornucopia. We run for a while, quick even though we are both out of breath and under us our legs threaten to fail us. The fire does not cease to chase after us, in fact the colors of the flames turn into threatening shades of  blue. 

Through the bushes we run and we enter the Cornucopia area. I can hear a scream and then a cannon sounds, deafened by the thunder. The entire forest is engulfed in flames, but there appears to be a man made border around the meadow of the Cornucpoia. We are trapped, and I look to Winnow with a sudden panic. They would not expect me to kill her, would they? Then, our attention is taken by Karis.

She comes out of the mouth of the Cornucopia, swinging her axe in her hand like it is simply a toy. Her auburn hair is wet and down her back, clinging to her skin. She has stripped down to only her boots and her water suit, for more flexibility I think. I notice Winnow's knuckles turn white as she clench's her sickle and I put my hand at my belt in case I need to retrieve a knife as well. Winnow and I wait there, as she approaches us. Though she stops when she is within a measured distance from us. The flames behind our back and she at our front, I can not think for a more worse situation. The game makers are behind this, I know they are. 

"Look who it is." Karis begins, though there is no smile on her face.

I remain silent as I look to Winnow, who is staring forward at our previous friend and ally. There is sweat on her brow which rolls down her face, hazel eyes steady and waiting. I look back to Karis, who has not moved a muscle. Despite everything, I know we have to kill her. Put her out of her misery, I try to humor myself and refer to her like an animal. It will make things simpler, and perhaps I will be able to be kinder. 

Karis laughs, running her free hand through her wet hair and pushing it back. Her other hand still holds the axe, though unlike earlier she does not play with it like a girl would a doll. Instead, she treats it like the weapon it is; dangerous. Winnow frowns, I can see from the corner of my eye. I simply stay in a defensive position, ready to attack should she. A smile comes onto her face but it's not really a smile. It's a grin, her confidence is well displayed on her face as she lifts one eyebrow over the other. 

"You know little soldier boy, Gaius tried to warn me about you," She tells me, "but I just didn't listen."

"Your fault." I reply, quick and blunt. 

"Well I'm going to fix that." Karis says.

"Avenge him?" I ask.

Winnow glances at me, and she's put it together. That time I came out of the forest, what is intended to be earlier yesterday, my hands and face smeared with fresh blood that wasn't mine. I was stained again and that time Gaius had been my victim, even though it was more righteously proclaimed self defense then that of Price. Though now I know that Karis is well aware of me being his killer. I am taking up a spot that was meant to be his. They must have had a mutual agreement of fighting each other to the death, but I have happily spoiled their arrangement. 

Karis clenches her jaw and she's starting to move towards us. I move away from the fire, moving out towards the open meadow and the Cornucopia. Both of them follow me, but in two different ways. Karis follows me like a predator follows its prey, eyes sharp and body relentless in the chase. Her entire being is set on destroying me, and I won't deny her the luxury if it means Winnow gets to go home. Winnow follows me in a way a child would, slowly and hesitantly. She never was a leader, I think. Which is why I have to take out Karis.

She throws her axe, and I duck, rolling to the side. It slams into the ground where my hips would be had I stayed standing. Winnow moves out of the way and Karis doesn't seem to care. This is between me and her, she intends to keep it that way until it's over. I get back to my feet, trying to be quick despite the protesting ache in my body. I ignore it though, because my enemy has her weapon of choice in her hands again and she's after me.

I take a knife from the belt and throw it at her ankle. She jumps over it, like it's a rope and this is a child's game. I run, and she throws her axe again. It hits down where intended this time, but the blade doesn't even touch me. The axe implanted itself in the ground ahead of me, and I trip on the golden handle face first into the ground. The grass is smooth, but the ground is unforgiving. When I hit it I feel my left arm dislocate itself at the shoulder. I scream, pushing myself onto my back and then still trying to get up. I kick at the ground until i'm sitting up, my right arm cradling the left like a wounded child. Karis is already at her axe, picking it up. When she throws again, I dodge by rolling to the side. 

She yells, and goes after her axe again while I find enough time to get myself on my feet and going to the edge of the meadow. Past the edge is fire, only held back by an invisible force field. 

Karis comes for me, with her axe in hand. Though she seems to slow when she see's the fire and then I glance back at it. It's blue flames are tempted to jump over the barrier and consume me, but they can't. When I look back at Karis she is still froze, her hand shaking. She's afraid of fire, and I know exactly how to play on that fear. I back up, a step each time. Though I stop when I can feel the heat of the fire behind me. Apparently something clicks in her mind that she doesn't have to get close to me to kill me, and then she's swinging. I jump to the right, dodging the axe as it flies into the forest; lost forever in the flames.

Karis makes an animal like scream, and we both know she won't be getting her weapon back. 

I still have my knives, and I could finish her off even with just my right hand. When I get myself kneeling, she's coming at me. She is furious, glaring at me and not caring if there is fire behind me. I don't wait for her, and am up and running again. Of course she follows me, though now instead of the paced, cocky walk she is now running at full force. I am fast, but she is faster. I can't outrun her when she slams me into the ground.

I don't have time to get my knives like I did with either Gaius or Price. She's not falling for that trick, that won't be her mistake. Karis is beating me, her fist meeting my face multiple times until finally the world is taken on colors I didn't imagine could be. Within all the confusion I grab her right hand with my own when it goes down for a hit and snap it at the wrist, causing her to yell. She get's off of me, eyes wide as she observes it. Her mouth agape as she glances from it to me.

I've only fueled her anger, but at least I have managed to stand again. I can barely see though, and try not to close my eyes. The second I close them, I'll be out of this game. Until I kill Karis, that isn't going to happen. 

"You sneaky fuck!" Karis yells, her jaw clenching and her eyes glaring.

I give her a smile, and it's bloody, beaten and mocking. I hope she gets my message.

"What do you think is going to happen when you kill me? Huh?" She asks, "you think Winnow is just going to kiss you and your going to roll over for her?"

She spits at me, and I find myself circling her. We're circling each other, actually. We're at the mouth of the Cornucopia and it's just empty space until one of our corpses fill it.

"She's going to stick that sickle into your neck the second she gets the chance." Karis tells me.

"Even if she does, that won't be your concern." I retort.

I believe her though. If Winnow doesn't, then I will gladly roll over for her. If that is how it has to be to assure her survival, I'd do it without even a second thought.

There we are again, hissing back and forth at each other delaying the inevitable. Though now with a broken wrist I think Karis is taking her time to embrace death with this banter. It's too dull though, they won't enjoy this show. So I pick up a knife from my belt and she's staring at me with wide eyes. Suddenly she's running at me, hoping she can get to me first. But she doesn't, I throw my knife and it lands into her skull. When she falls I go over to her and stand above her.

She is alive, though not in any state that can be considered living. Karis' eyes are on me, and her mouth is opening and closing as her brain tries to work with what functions are left. I pull out another knife, my last one, and kneel on top of her. I stare down at her, emotionless and expressionless as she looks at me with begging eyes.

"I'm sorry." I admit.

Then, I take the final knife and slit her throat. I didn't anticipate the stream of blood that would flow, but it does and its thick and heavy. I don't care though, she's dead and now it's just us. I stand up from her corpse, looking around. Winnow is at the edge of the Cornucopia, a few feet from where Karis and I are. She is just staring at me, and I try to smile. It doesn't work, not the way I wanted it to. It is weird, a failed attempt and nothing to really call a smile. The girl I love, Winnow, she just stares at Karis.

She isn't focused on me, but when I move away from Karis she notices me instantly. Her eyes stare at me, processing my every move as I approach her with no weapons left, arm wounded and barely standing on my own. I take her hand in mine, and suprising she lets me. It's the hand she holds her golden sickle with, and I bring it closer to my neck. Before it even grazes my neck, she rips her hand from my grip and the weapon away from me.

"What are you doing?!" Winnow asks, surprised and offended at my actions.

I smile, this time for real. My eyes lower to the sickle and then back to her, "There is only one winner, Winnow. That isn't me." 

"But. . ." She begins, but never finishes.

"Do you want me to do it myself?" I ask, reaching a hand out for the sickle.

Winnow steps back from me, raising the sickle back and out of my reach. She glares at me, wondering how I could ever even think or speak like that. I just shake my head and chuckle, sight going to the ground again. They would have only one winner, whether she kills me or not. The only problem is at this point I can't tell which one they would take as victor. When my eyes flicker up to Winnow, she's looking at me with a softer look. I remember the girl in the training who was so boyish it almost hurt many male tributes to look at her. She was a tom boy, strong and smart. I think of how she would've won the games, even if I had I not been here to lead her to this point. She is capable of it.

"Do you really want me to do it?" She questions.

I nod, "Yes."

"Okay. . . Okay." Winnow nods as well, breathing more quickly as she comes closer again.

I watch her the entire time, and when her shaky hand never moves I guide it towards my throat. My hand wraps around hers, tightly holding onto it as I begin to shake. That day when my name was called, I knew I was heading for my death. But now I stand, knees hitting each other as I watch Winnow try to gain any of her confidence left and finish me. I knew nothing of death, of the sacrifice that came with it. Winnow bites her bottom lip and nods at me, and I release her hand. Instead I put my hands on her shoulders, holding them tightly as I wait, trying to keep myself standing up.

"Wade, I'm sorry." She says to me, and I believe her.

Then, I feel the blade slip across my skin and blood run down my neck. 

* * *

**"** The victor, of the Twenty Fifth Hunger games! **"** Julius Flickerman announces, and on stage comes a girl.

She wears something similar to what she did in her interview, her long hair over one eye to bring sex appeal. Her dress is large and extends outward, cut to expose one of her legs as she walks. It is a dark dress, and at the end of it there are flickers of flames and sparks of cords you would find in technology. Over her ear is a flower, hair pushed back to allow it comfort. Her sleeves are skin tight, and white, contrasting her dress but complimenting it as it is outlined in diamonds as each layer passes. A bracelete is on her wrist and it shows a reflection of the sea, one much similar to the one she had in her games. She slumps in her chair and leans back every now and then like a boy would, her leg which is bare is spread open.

"Well aren't you lovely?" Julius asks the crowd, and she flashes a sly smile from him to the cameras.

"I wouldn't call myself that." She manages a reply.

"Oh dear," Julius starts, looking down at the sparks and flickers that come from the hem of her dress, "have I seen that before?"

"You have," The girl states, looking at him with confidence in her hazel eyes and a suddenly serious face, "this dress reflects on all the other tributes who were in the games with me."

Julius smiles from her to the crowd, though his attention is always for her, "Really now?"

"Yes." She replies.

"What's that one?" Julius asks, pointing to the flower.

"Karis, she was the lumber district. I thought it would be fitting to wear a flower instead, they wouldn't let me have the birds in my hair." She tells them, and they laugh.

"This one?" Julius points to the bangle.

"Eta and Echo." She replies.

"Tell me then, do you have a special one just for Wade?" Julius questions.

It's a hard question, because at first she doesn't answer. Her face falls and her eyes lower. When she does look up, there is a hint of some sort of regret or danger of tears in her eyes. 

"No," She says.

"No."

 


	15. Story Discussion.

Okay the story is over, obviously. Now, I wanted to discuss things about the story and in the story that might be interesting. If you don't wanna be involved in this or don't care you should probably stop reading right about now, but I applaud you for getting this far though.

For those who do stay and want to read a little more or just understand what this is here we go.

**Significance in Character Deaths**

One thing that not many people like is the first person perspective. This is because you don't get to witness everyone's death because the character your seeing the world from isn't always everywhere at the right time. Though right now we're going to talk about the character death's that we were able to witness and I'll be explaining if any of them have metaphorical or just base story line need significance. 

 **Vibia Colesmith;** This character's death was meant to show the first part of Wade's personality changing. With this character's death, we see a more emotional, caring side of Wade. We also lose a piece of him after her death, mainly because despite how much Wade actually seems to not like her for a fair portion of the story, he actually is quite attatched to people. Her death also opened way for people to imagine the character Amelia as a backstabbing character which is quick to kill rather than think. Typical career tribute, we must think.

 **Amelia Jamison;** In this death there really isn't much to it. It is both a way to show how, despite his actual helpful nature in keeping Winnow alive, Price was still a killer. When he has a toy, he will throw others away. This is also a death which is a sort of justice, something that Wade overlooks. Though his sympathy for Amelia would've been higher had she not killed Vibia. Her death also makes Wade uneasy, as he is now aware of just how brutal the career tributes are in close up action to their allies; a striking contrast to how the bloodbath was fought by most of the careers aside from Amelia, who did just that. 

 **Malva Thorncroft;** Little is known about her death, but this character's cannon fires in between the death of Amelia and Price when Karis and Wade are running through the forest. It causes Karis to trip, and in turn Wade along with her. The result is a wounded Karis, thanks to Wade's knife falling out of his pocket and inserting itself into her leg on the way down. This death was a way to bring more stress to Wade's character, and inevitably force's him to leave Karis in a near-death situation, which would make her have a grudge towards him for the rest of the story even if she is later saved by him. 

 **Price Cajole;** This death is a very large point in Wade's point of view. It is a point which repeats in being mentioned and is one of Wade's biggest regrets in killing in the game. Though it also opens way for Wade to become more detatched and understanding in the fact that there is only one winner of the hunger games. Price's death is mainly due to Wade jumping to assumptions that he would harm Winnow and also out of the stress of his current situations at that point of the story. In a way, it was a sort of self revenge for  _stealing_ Winnow's favor. The way he dies is violent and bloody, which also explains a lot for how Wade is feeling even if he isn't verbally expressing how he feels to the reader at that point. This death also gets Wade a sponsor for his sudden outburst after being a seemingly calm, small and innocent tribute who turned out more deadly than a career tribute. In the basic scheme of things, Price's death was the most important and demanding, because in the end it determined the fate of Karis. 

 **Leeto Bosworth;** This character's downfall is really just meant to show how horrific the games are and how bad it can take away parts of you. It also gave Karis a more of emotional understanding with Wade, who lost his district partner in the initial bloodbath. 

 **Gaius Boolean;** The death of this significant character did not seem to have much meaning to it. Time is running short and removing characters as quickly as I could, I decided to make Gaius rather than Karis go after Wade for one simple reason. If it came down to the finale, Gaius would be able to kill Wade without even really trying. Especially after the feast gave to the characters weapons of their preference. Resulting in his death, Gaius is quick and sloppy about killing Wade, which suggests he actually underestimated Wade, which makes a fairly well amount of sense. It is either that or he planned that Karis would want the knife from Wade; If he assumed he did have it. Though either way, he didn't know one of the two characters as well as he thought he did, which reflected his vanity and brought his own end. For Wade, the loss of this character isn't that significant, but it shows that he would be willing to kill again if he needed to until the inevitable battle royale.

 **Jerzy Sladedell** **;** From District eleven, this character is a small part to play in the actual story before his death from Wade's perspective. The reason for his death was to show Wade that despite his hopes, Karis in reality had lost her mind like Eta and Echo had once hinted earlier in the chapter. 

 **Crowell Levant;** Significance behind this death is not very hard to pinpoint. Not only does this character actually manage to almost kill Wade, showing that he is not immune to being hit back, this death also shows that Winnow is just as ready to kill as Wade is. Winnow however has a low pain threshold and dislikes blood, so we can naturally assume she would not take part in killing for pleasure. This death also patches the unspoken tear in the bond between Wade and Winnow ever since he had killed Price earlier in the game. Though Winnow is not ready to fully forgive him, this death allows Wade to understand that she would still protect him despite her feelings, which suggests she has an instinctual urge to help Wade through out the story, which probably was created when she saved him at the bloodbath.

 **Eta Perthshire;** Her death, despite being unknown, effects the story by causing the death of Echo and also bringing the game down to it's final four. Her death and Echo's following suicide brings Wade's hopes in winning the games higher in possibility since after Echo's death there are no more remaining career tributes. 

 **Echo Allardyce;** His death does not bring much to the table aside from remind people the great difference between Winnow and Wade. Wade, after already having killed two people, simply watches the suicide and relates to it on a more emotional level. We can assume that if Wade had been planning to backstab Winnow and try to win as victor himself, he may have resigned this option after seeing Echo commit suicide from losing the one he loved most in the games. Winnow on the other hand does not seem to relate as easily, looking away and being in a emotional pain at witnessing the event. It is also assumed that this could lead to why forcefields are a part of the game to prevent suicides, based on how unpopular it may have gone with the audience or how heart wrenching the real scene was. 

 **Fern Wetherby;** A death which really does not have much background meaning or significance to it. She dies in the forest when it catches fire, it can be assumed she was either resting or just did not see it coming. Though her death does make it the final three, which then leads to the finale between Winnow and Wade.

 **Karis Norrick;** When she dies, we see that Karis has lost a lot of herself. We can assume most of her sanity slipped after consuming the sea water and perhaps finding Gaius dead. While we can never be to sure, she still isn't the same person by the showdown between herself and Wade. Her death shows as the last piece of himself that Wade loses, aside from Winnow. When Wade kills Karis, we can imagine he doesn't want to live knowing he has killed many of his friends and scorned those who he hasn't. Her death sets up the finale between Winnow and Wade, assuring he would sacrifice himself for Winnow due to her tauntings before her death.

 **Wade Galloway;** The most significant death of the entire series would be that of the main character. His death is a symbol for the end of the story, but only his. The story continues shortly after his death showing Winnow in an interview with Julius talking about her dress. In which each tribute from the games is represented somewhere in her dress, everyone aside from Wade. We salvage that from his sacrifice that he is indeed still a caring person, though we are as aware as he probably was at that point that if he went home to his family, he would be a shadow of himself. 

 

** Winnow's Tribute dress. **

My favorite part of writing the story had to be wrapping it up at the end with the Tribute dress. Winnow made her last interview with Julius Flickerman and in their conversation he mentions her dress, and how it looks familiar. The dress is a twist on the other tributes dress' or suits when they were still alive and interviewed by Julius. One way or another, each tribute had a signature object of veneration to both mourn them and keep them alive past the games. The only tribute who didn't have a special object in honor of them on Winnow's dress was Wade, for unexplained reasons. Though we can assume that because of her relationship with Wade at the end of the games she was either still hurt about him sacrificing himself for her or still angry about him killing Price, who'm her sleeves were meant to resemble by the striking contrast of color code he wore at his interview with a white suit. 

 

**Alternative Endings**

**  
**While this area can range from anything, we are going to focus on what could have happened if certain characters hadn't of died. Though I will try to keep it brief.

**Vibia Colesmith.**

If Vibia hadn't died, we can assume she would've either broke off with the career pack when she found out they were playing her as bait or been the one to save Wade at the start of the Bloodbath rather than Winnow. Had this had happened, many events in the story would have changed. Though it is likely they would've died in the swamp as without Winnow, Wade and Vibia would've had no connections to Karis or her alliance against the career pack. Had they survived longer than that, we can assume most of the events would have played out the same, though in opposite. While Vibia would've become a detatched character, Wade would've continued to be fairly innocent. Then, at the end we can imagine that Vibia would've taken Wade's place and Wade taken Winnow's. 

**Amelia Jamison.**

If this character had survived, then it is common knowledge that Winnow would've died in her place, and perhaps Wade too. Had she lived and both Wade and Winnow died, she would've won with her only challenger being either Price or Gaius, perhaps even Karis had it came down to the two of them but otherwise she would have won against the rest of the tributes and proclaimed victor. 

**Price Cajole.**

Price would have been a hard tribute to kill, and had he not have died we can be sure that it would have resulted in the death of Wade and possibly Winnow as well. Karis is the only other tribute who shows potential that we know of to be his equal rival. Had it came down to Karis and him by the time she had lost her mind, it is not known who would win. However, we can guess that one of them would win as victor unless Gaius was alive as well, which would've resulted in Price's death and the finale between Karis and Gaius.

**Gaius Boolean.**

If he had survived then it is sure that Wade would have died. If Wade had found another way to escape, then Gaius would still easily track him down and end it. Gaius is smart, though it is shown in the story he has a preference for Karis and shows that he would want his finale to be between him and her, for many reasons Wade had assumed in the story.  It is more than seventy percent likely that had Gaius survived, he would have proclaimed victor of the Twenty fifth annual hunger games.

**Eta Perthshire.**

It is sure that Eta would have only won with Echo, and their situtation would've played out similar to the Winnow and Wade ending. Though it would've been more violent, because even though Echo would have sacrificed himself, Eta wouldn't have hesitated to kill him so that she could return to her father as a victor. Had she faced Karis, Wade or even Gaius alone she would have more than likely died, but with Echo she uses him both as a weapon and a shield that would have helped her win.

**Echo Allardyce.**

Unless it was allowed for Echo to return home with Eta, or somehow tricked into being the last one, we can not imagine an outcome which Echo being the winner and placed as Victor.

**Karis Norrick.**

Karis would have been a poor canidate for a victor, already having practically lost her morals and mind. She seemed very bloodthirsty, so even if she won it would have been a disaster to return her back to her district with how unstable she was. However, if she had remained her sanity and things went different, she would have been an inspiring victor that may have raised a rebellion which she would have been supportive of. In thought, she would have been an early version of Katniss.

**Wade Galloway.**

Had he decided not to have sacrifice himself, he would have been damaged beyond repair mentally. Wade became a very cold, cut off character that in the end wouldn't be able to go back to his family in his condition. Had he been forced to kill Winnow, he may as well have been lost. As a victor though, he may have been a sudden change for the Capitol to see. He would have been calm, collected and charismatic in front of the crowds. Though behind the scenes he would turn to some sort of drug to take off the edge of being a victor and having the haunting memories of the games. 

 

**Continuation of the story?**

It is possible that the story may continue with Wade's younger sister, Katri, who he references many times through out the start of the story. I may write a story of her going to her own games, watching and learning from her big brother when he was in his own. Though this may not happen and nobody should get their hopes up. While it would be fun to explore the games again with a new, less extravagant arena, I don't know if I am willing to create a new arena and new characters that will have importance just to all die as part of the story. 

 

More information is being added, so keep an eye out! If you are interested in asking question about something just leave a comment and I will go over it here. 

 

 

 


End file.
